Gas separation is a very important industrial process for manufacturing chemicals, fuels, plastics, and polymers but is also energy intensive through the traditional cryogenic distillations. Adsorptive gas separation by porous materials can potentially fulfill the energy-efficient separation economy. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), a new generation of porous materials, have been demonstrated for their promise in addressing important gas separations. In this review, we outline the uniqueness and basic design principles of MOF chemistry for gas separation in terms of their specific pore chemistry and molecular recognition. The finely tuned micropores for the high sieving effects and immobilized functional sites on pore surfaces for specific recognition of gas molecules have enabled us to develop a variety of microporous MOFs for many gas separations with both high separation selectivity and productivity. We highlight the major progress and achievements in this very important topic, which will further facilitate the extensive research endeavors and promote their industrial implementation for gas separation.

气体分离是制造化学药品，燃料，塑料和聚合物的非常重要的工业过程，但是通过传统的低温蒸馏，它也是高能耗的。通过多孔材料进行吸附性气体分离可以潜在地实现高能效的分离经济性。金属有机框架（MOF）是新一代的多孔材料，已被证明具有解决重要气体分离的前景。在这篇综述中，我们概述了用于气体分离的MOF化学的独特性和基本设计原理，具体取决于它们的特定孔化学和分子识别。经过微调的微孔可实现高筛分效果，并在孔表面固定了功能位点以特异性识别气体分子，这使我们能够开发出多种微孔MOF，用于具有高分离选择性和高生产率的多种气体分离。我们将重点介绍这一重要主题的重大进展和成就，这将进一步促进广泛的研究工作，并促进其在气体分离方面的工业应用。