Selective adsorption and separation of C2 hydrocarbons in a "flexible-robust" metal–organic framework based on a guest-dependent gate-opening effect.

The selective adsorption/separation of C2 hydrocarbons has been realized in a "flexible-robust" MOF, Zn2(Atz)2Ox. Owing to the distinctive guest-dependent multistep adsorption behaviors and suitable guest–framework interactions, this MOF shows outstanding separation performance for C2H2/C2H4 mixtures in a wide range of temperature confirmed by a column breakthrough experiment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]