Crystal Engineering of Two Light and Pressure Responsive Physisorbents

Abstract An emerging strategy in the design of efficient gas storage technologies is the development of stimuli‐responsive physisorbents which undergo transformations in response to a particular stimulus, such as pressure, heat or light. Herein, we report two isostructural light modulated adsorbents (LMAs) containing bis‐3‐thienylcyclopentene (BTCP),LMA‐1 [Cd(BTCP)(DPT)2](DPT=2,5‐diphenylbenzene‐1,4‐dicarboxylate) andLMA‐2 [Cd(BTCP)(FDPT)2](FDPT=5‐fluoro‐2,diphenylbenzene‐1,4‐dicarboxylate). BothLMAsundergo pressure induced switching transformations from non‐porous to porous via adsorption of N2, CO2and C2H2.LMA‐1exhibited multi‐step adsorption whileLMA‐2showed a single‐step adsorption isotherm. The light responsive nature of the BTPC ligand in both frameworks was exploited with irradiation ofLMA‐1resulting in a 55 % maximum reduction of CO2uptake at 298 K. This study reports the first example of a switching sorbent (closed to open) that can be further modulated by light.