Probing Cluster-π Interactions between Cun- and C2H2/C2H4 for Gas Separation

Baoqi Yin; Lijun Geng; Hanyu Zhang; Yuhan Jia; Zhixun Luo

doi:10.1021/jasms.1c00177

Probing Cluster-π Interactions between Cu_n^- and C₂H₂/C₂H₄ for Gas Separation

J Am Soc Mass Spectrom. 2021 Sep 1;32(9):2391-2398. doi: 10.1021/jasms.1c00177. Epub 2021 Jul 30.

Authors

Baoqi Yin^{1

2}, Lijun Geng¹, Hanyu Zhang¹, Yuhan Jia¹, Zhixun Luo^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences (BNLMS), State Key Laboratory for Structural Chemistry of Unstable and Stable Species, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Beijing 100190, P.R. China.
² University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, P.R. China.

PMID: 34327992
DOI: 10.1021/jasms.1c00177

Abstract

Copper-related materials are used for separation of ethylene and acetylene gases in chemistry; however, the precise mechanism regarding selectivity is elusive to be fully understood. Here, we have conducted a joint experimental and theoretical study of the Cu_n^- (n = 7-30) clusters in reacting with C₂H₄ and C₂H₂. It is found that all of the Cu_n^- clusters readily react with C₂H₂, giving rise to C₂H₂-addition products; however, Cu₁₈^- and Cu₁₉^- do not react with C₂H₄. We illustrate the superatomic stability of Cu₁₈^- and advocate its availability to separate C₂H₄ from C₂H₂. Further, we demonstrate the atomically precise mechanism regarding selectivity by fully unveiling the size-dependent cluster-π interactions.