Iron detection and remediation with a functionalized porous polymer

1. An ether-thioether functionalized porous aromatic framework polymer with selectivity for iron(III) and iron(III) adsorption in aqueous samples.

2. The polymer of claim 1 , wherein the ether-thioether functionalized porous aromatic framework is of formula: (2-(methylthio)ethoxy)methyl-PAF (CH 3 SCH 2 CH 2 OCH 2 -PAF or PAF-CH 2 OCH 2 CH 2 SCH 3 ).

3. The polymer of claim 1 , wherein the ether-thioether functionalized porous aromatic framework comprises carbon atoms tetrahedrally connected to four neighboring carbon atoms though two phenyl rings.

4. The polymer of claim 1 , synthesized using a nickel(0)-catalyzed cross-coupling reaction to couple the phenyl rings to a tetrakis(4-bromophenyl)methane a tetrahedral building unit.

5. The polymer of claim 1 which exhibits selectivity for the adsorption of iron(II) and iron(III) ions over other biologically-relevant metal ions at initial concentrations of 0.3, 2, 10 or 20 mg/L.

6. The polymer of claim 1 , wherein the ether-thioether functionalized porous aromatic framework comprises monomer units of one of formulas (I), (II), (III) or (IV):

wherein,

X is selected from C, Si, and a three-dimensional polycyclic cycloalkyl moiety,

R 1 , R 2 , R 3 and R 4 are independently selected from an ether-thioether, and

the indeces a, b, c and d are members independently selected from the integers 1, 2, 3, and 4, such that when a, b, c, or d is greater than 1, each R 1 , R 2 , R 3 and R 4 , respectively, is independently selected.

7. The polymer of claim 1 , wherein the ether-thioether functionalized porous aromatic framework comprises monomer units of formula (I):

wherein,

X is selected from C, Si, and a three-dimensional polycyclic cycloalkyl moiety,

R 1 , R 2 , R 3 and R 4 are independently selected from an ether-thioether, and

the indeces a, b, c and d are members independently selected from the integers 1, 2, 3, and 4, such that when a, b, c, or d is greater than 1, each R 1 , R 2 , R 3 and R 4 , respectively, is independently selected.

8. The polymer of claim 1 , wherein the ether-thioether functionalized porous aromatic framework comprises monomer units of formula:

wherein,

R 1 , R 2 , R 3 and R 4 are independently selected from an ether-thioether, and

the indeces a, b, c and d are members independently selected from the integers 1, 2, 3, and 4, such that when a, b, c, or d is greater than 1, each R 1 , R 2 , R 3 and R 4 , respectively, is independently selected.

9. The polymer of claim 1 , wherein the ether-thioether functionalized porous aromatic framework comprises monomer units of formula:

wherein,

R 1 , R 2 , R 3 and R 4 are 2-(methylthio)ethoxy)methyl, and

the indeces a, b, c and d are members independently selected from the integers 1, 2, 3, and 4, such that when a, b, c, or d is greater than 1, each R 1 , R 2 , R 3 and R 4 , respectively, is independently selected.

10. The polymer of claim 1 , wherein the ether-thioether functionalized porous aromatic framework comprises monomer units of formula:

wherein,

R 1 , R 2 , R 3 and R 4 are 2-(methylthio)ethoxy)methyl.

11. A composition comprising the polymer of a claim 1 , combined with an 8-hydroxyquinoline colorimetric indicator.

12. A method of making the polymer of a claim 1 , comprising the step of reacting a chloromethyl functionalized porous aromatic porous aromatic framework with 2-(methylthio)ethan-1-ol to obtain the ether-thioether functionalized porous aromatic porous aromatic framework.

13. A method of using the polymer of claim 1 , comprising absorbing to the polymer iron ions from a water sample.

14. A method of detecting iron in a sample comprising absorbing to the polymer of claim 1 iron ions of the sample.

15. A method of removing iron from a sample comprising absorbing to the polymer of claim 1 iron ions of the sample, and separating the iron ions from the sample.