Facile synthesis of aryl-triazine linked two-dimensional covalent organic frameworks via “two-in-one” strategy for phenolic compounds adsorption

• A novel type of aryl-triazine linked two-dimensional covalent organic frameworks (2D-COFs) • 4-Acetylbenzonitrile as a “two-in-one” type monomer for trimerization toward COFs. • A simple, efficient, scalable synthetic approach toward 2D-COFs. • Efficient adsorption for phenolic compounds. • DFT calculations support improved adsorption with the triazine-incorporated 2D-COFs. We report the synthesis of aryl-triazine linked two-dimensional covalent organic frameworks (2D-COFs) via trifluoromethanesulfonic acid-catalyzed trimerization, employing 4-acetylbenzonitrile as a “two-in-one” type monomer in COFs synthesis for the first time. It enables the simple and scalable synthesis of COFs with outstanding thermal stability and lamellar structure at >90% yield via convenient operations. 2D-COFs have been applied for the adsorption of phenol, bisphenol A and 1-naphthol, exhibiting a pseudo-second-order kinetics. Calculations demonstrated that the incorporation of triazines into aromatic 2D-COFs benefit the adsorption process. The facile synthesis and aryl-triazine-linked architecture should broaden opportunities toward more 2D-COFs and facilitate potential applications.