Carboxylic acid functionalized pores in a covalent organic framework

POLY 280

R. William Tilford, tilford@mail.chem.sc.edu and John J. Lavigne, lavigne@mail.chem.sc.edu. Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of South Carolina, 631 Sumter Street, Columbia, SC 29208
Covalent Organic Frameworks (COFs) are a new class of porous materials that utilize the assembly of poly(boronic acid)s and poly(alcohol)s through covalent but reversible boronate ester linkages. Thermally stable pore networks are formed as a result. We have developed a synthetic strategy to incorporate functionality into the pores. Initially, this involved alkylation of the pore walls in order to create diversity in the pore size and structure of the parent COF-18Å. We now extend this strategy to incorporate active functionality, namely carboxylic acid groups. To accommodate this, we designed a larger pore structure, COF-30Å, a two dimensional hexagonal COF and have devised a means by which to introduce carboxylic acid groups onto the pore walls via a pre-polymerization modification of the bis-diol monomer, 1,2,4,5-tetrahydroxybenzene. Synthesis and characterization of these new COF systems will be discussed.