Formation of a one-dimensional array of oxygen in a microporous metal-organic solid.

Kitaura, Ryo; Kitagawa, Susumu; Kubota, Yoshiki; Kobayashi, Tatsuo C; Kindo, Koichi; Mita, Yoshimi; Matsuo, Akira; Kobayashi, Michihiro et al. · Science · 2002

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

We report the direct observation of dioxygen molecules physisorbed in the nanochannels of a microporous copper coordination polymer by the MEM (maximum entropy method)/Rietveld method, using in situ high-resolution synchrotron x-ray powder diffraction measurements. The obtained MEM electron density revealed that van der Waals dimers of physisorbed O2 locate in the middle of nanochannels and form a one-dimensional ladder structure aligned to the host channel structure. The observed O-O stretching Raman band and magnetic susceptibilities are characteristic of the confined O2 molecules in one-dimensional nanochannels of CPL-1 (coordination polymer 1 with pillared layer structure).