Exceptional surface area from coordination copolymers derived from two linear linkers of differing lengths

Although a multitude of microporous coordination polymers (MCPs) with ultrahigh surface area have been reported in the last decade, none of these can come close to matching the cost/performance ratio of conventional sorbents such as zeolites and carbons for most applications. There is a need to drastically reduce the cost of MCPs and this goal cannot be achieved through complex linker synthesis strategies so often used to boost MCP performance. Here two new MCPs: UMCM-8 (Zn4O(benzene-1,4-dicarboxylate)1.5(naphthalene-2,6-dicarboxylate)1.5), and UMCM-9 (Zn4O(naphthalene-2,6-dicarboxylate)1.5(biphenyl-4,4′-dicarboxylate)1.5) are described and the concept of using mixtures of readily available linear linkers that enforce different spacings between network nodes is introduced as a means to reduce interpenetration. These new MCPs demonstrate Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) surface areas over 4000 m2 g−1 and high pore volumes over 1.80 cm3 g−1.