Intercalation of organic molecules into vanadium(IV) benzenedicarboxylate: adsorbate structure and selective absorption of organosulfur compounds.

The capacity and selectivity of nanoporous materials in the absorption and separation of molecular mixtures depend on specific interactions between the host frameworks and removable guest species, and in some cases the degree to which the structure of the host lattice can relax as the molecular species are intercalated. The classical zeolite frameworks are relatively rigid and exhibit little deformation upon loading and unloading of various guest species. [1] On the other hand, intercalation into layered structures leads to expansion of the interlayer separation because of the very weak interlayer bonding and can lead to complete exfoliation of the layers. [2] Flexibility without loss of crystallinity is expected for structures containing rigid building blocks linked by relatively deformable hingelike units. Examples of framework flexibility have been found in a number of metal–organic frameworks (MOFs). [3] Among them, a group of compounds first reported by F*rey and co-workers, [4] based on chains of trans