Host–guest adsorption behavior of deuterated methane and molecular oxygen in a porous rare-earth metal–organic framework

The yttrium-based metal–organic framework, Y(btc) (btc = 1,3,5-benzenetricarboxylate), shows moderate uptake of methane (0.623 mmol g −1 ) and molecular oxygen (0.183 mmol g −1 ) at 1 bar and 308 K. Neutron powder-diffraction data for the guest-free, CD 4 -, and O 2 -loaded framework reveal multiple adsorption sites for each gas. Both molecular guests exhibit interactions with the host framework characterised by distances between the framework and guest atoms that range from 2.83 to 4.81 Å, with these distances identifying interaction most commonly between the guest molecule and the carboxylate functional groups of the benzenetricarboxylate bridging ligand of the host.