Porous materials containing built-in single molecule traps for small molecule capture

1. A porous material comprising (i) a single pore having a single pore size or (ii) a plurality of pores having an average pore size, wherein the single pore size or the average pore size is proportioned to accommodate a single gas molecule to the exclusion of additional gas molecules;

wherein the single gas molecule is positioned between at least two metal ion dimers in a pore of the material, wherein each dimer comprises an outer metal ion and an inner metal ion, wherein each inner metal ion participates in binding the single gas molecule, and wherein the outer metal ion and the inner metal ion are the same; and

wherein

(a) each metal ion dimer is bonded by four bis(monodentate) ligands, and at least one of the bis(monodentate) ligands is selected from a compound of formula (I) or (II):

wherein A 1 is selected from the group consisting of naphthalenyl, quinolinyl, naphthyridinyl, anthracenyl, and acridinyl;

wherein A 2 is selected from the group consisting of phenyl, pyridinyl, naphthalenyl, naphthyridinyl, and acridinyl, and

X 1 is selected from the group consisting of ethynyl,

or

(b) each metal ion dimer is bonded by four tetra(monodentate) ligands, and at least one of the tetra(monodentate) ligands is selected from a compound of formula (V) or (VI):

wherein A 4 is selected from the group consisting of pyridinyl, naphthalenyl, quinolinyl, naphthpyridinyl, anthracenyl, and acridinyl;

wherein A 5 is selected from the group consisting of phenyl, pyridinyl, naphthalenyl, naphthpyridinyl, and acridinyl, and

X 2 is selected from the group consisting of ethynyl,

2. The porous material of claim 1 , wherein the porous material is synthetic.

3. The porous material of claim 1 , wherein the material can be activated to coordinate a solvent molecule in a pore.

4. The porous material of claim 1 , wherein the gas molecule is selected from CO 2 , H 2 , N 2 , CO, O 2 , CH 4 , C 2 H 4 , SO 2 , H 2 S, CS 2 , NH 3 , NO, and C 3 H 6 , or a combination thereof.

5. The porous material of claim 1 , wherein each metal ion of each dimer is selected from the group consisting of Cu, Ru, Zn, Co, Rh and Mo.

6. The porous material of claim 5 , wherein each metal ion of each dimer is Cu(II) or Ru(II).

7. The porous material of claim 1 , wherein the material comprises a single pore, and wherein the single pore comprises a single gas molecule.

8. The porous material of claim 1 , wherein the compound of formula (I) is selected from the following:

9. The porous material of claim 1 , wherein the compound of formula (II) is selected from the following:

10. The porous material of claim 1 , wherein the material comprises a plurality of pores, and wherein at least one pore comprises a single gas molecule.

11. The porous material of claim 10 , wherein a majority of the plurality of pores each comprise a single gas molecule.

12. The porous material of claim 1 , wherein the compound of formula (V) is selected from the following:

13. The porous material of claim 1 , wherein the compound of formula (VI) is selected from the following:

14. A method of binding a single gas molecule in a porous material, comprising contacting a porous material of claim 1 with a plurality of gas molecules.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the plurality of gas molecules is further defined as a mixture of gas molecules, and the porous material selectively binds the single gas molecule.