Pillararenes - Cage Molecules with a Potential for CO2 Capture

Pillararenes – Cage Molecules with a Potential for CO2 Capture Venkatesh Bollabathini, Quoc Duy Ho, Eva Rauls, Sachin Maruthi Chavan and Kåre Bredeli Jørgensen* Department of Chemistry, Bioscience and Environmental Engineering, University of Stavanger, N-4036 Stavanger, Norway. Email: (venkatesh.bollabathini@uis.no) To mitigate CO2 emissions released from anthropogenic activities, various advanced technologies have been developed. In this context, Pillar[n]arenes (P[n]As), a novel class of macrocyclic host compounds made of hydroquinone units, have drawn significant attention in development of supramolecular organic frameworks for selective CO2 capture.1 The general synthesis of P[n]As is carried out in a Lewis acid catalyzed condensation reaction of 1,4-dialkoxybenzene and paraformaldehyde.2,3 These compounds are easy to synthesize, have excellent chemical and thermal stability and can also be made water-soluble by modifying the rim functionality. Incorporating multiple chemical functionalities onto P[n]As may enhance the host-guest complexation abilities and the uptake of new guest molecules. Computational modelling will also provide insight into the atomic-level understanding of CO2 adsorption at P[n]A-based systems and verify the potential of these materials to capture CO2 through absorption and adsorption methods under realistic conditions. 1. Tan, L.-L.; Zhu, Y.; Jin, Y.; Zhang, W.; Yang, Y.-W. Supramol. Chem. 2018, 30 (7), 648. 2. Ogoshi, T.; Kanai, S.; Fujinami, S.; Yamagishi, T.-a.; Nakamoto, Y. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2008, 130 (15), 5022. 3. Boinski, T.; Szumna, A. Tetrahedron 2012, 68 (46), 9419.