Engineering solid-state porosity of synthetic supercontainers via modification of exo-cavities.

Two new coordination supercontainers have been successfully isolated from the self-assembly reactions of the container precursor p -phenylsulfonylcalix [4]arene, Ni(II) or Co(II) ion, and diphenylmethane-4,4'-dicarboxylic acid. Crystal structure analysis revealed that these two coordination supercontainers possess a similar endo cavity and two deeper exo cavities compared to the related supercontainers based on p - tert -butylsulfonylcalix [4]arene. Gas and vapor adsorption studies indicated that the new compounds are permanently porous and show much better CO 2 /O 2 and CO 2 /N 2 selectivity and higher vapor adsorption than the tert -butyl analogues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]