Hydroxyl group recognition by hydrogen-bonding donor and acceptor sites embedded in a layered metal-organic framework.

One of the dominant types of interactions between host and guest molecules is hydrogen-bonding, and these interactions can work selectively for a guest molecule. Here, we demonstrate a metal-organic framework (MOF) having both hydrogen-bonding donor and acceptor sites that are quite effective for selective sorption. The MOF selectively interacts with hydroxylic guests in contrast to aprotic hydrogen-bonding guests and shows a sorption selectivity for protic H(2)O, MeOH, and EtOH guests. Notably, this is the first compound that shows complete selectivity in adsorption not for MeCN and MeCHO but for EtOH, which has similar fundamental properties except for its proticity.