Highly Selective Separation of Minimum‐Boiling Azeotrope Toluene/Pyridine by Nonporous Adaptive Crystals of Cucurbit[6]uril
Qing Li, Kecheng Jie, Feihe Huang
Abstract
The production of high purity toluene and pyridine is of significance in both industrial production and synthetic chemistry. The present protocols available to separate toluene/pyridine mixtures are several energy-intensive distillation methods, which are not environmentally friendly and cost-effective. Herein, we provide an energy-efficient and simple adsorptive separation protocol using nonporous adaptive crystals of cucurbit[6]uril (Q[6]). Q[6] crystals separate pyridine from toluene/pyridine mixtures with nearly 100 % purity. Furthermore, removal of the guest from guest-loaded Q[6] leads to the guest-free cucurbit[6]uril, which can be recycled without losing performance.
Topics & Concepts
ToluenePyridineAzeotropeBoilingChemistryDistillationPorous mediumAzeotropic distillationChemical engineeringOrganic chemistryMaterials sciencePorosityEngineeringSupramolecular Chemistry and ComplexesCrystallography and molecular interactionsAdvanced NMR Techniques and Applications