Imidazolium-Functionalized Hypercrosslinked Polymers with Tunable Porosity for\nEfficient Deterpenation of Essential Oils

The\nefficient separation of multicomponent natural products is\nhindered by the difficulty in designing adsorbents capable of capturing\ndifferent components simultaneously owing to their aligned molecular\nstructures and comparable properties. In our study, a series of imidazolium-functionalized\nhypercrosslinked polymers were developed, and the porous texture and\nnitrogen content were notably altered by adjusting the molar ratio\nbetween the monomer and crosslinker, alongside variations in the length\nand rigidity of the crosslinkers. Owing to the accessible porosities\nand abundant adsorption sites, the polymers displayed a rapid adsorption\nrate and high capacities of 313 mg·g<sup>–1</sup> for\ncitral and 281 mg·g<sup>–1</sup> for linalool, with an\noxyterpene/terpene selectivity of 2.3. Featuring an effective liquid\nbreakthrough performance and rapid regeneration capabilities, they\ndemonstrated considerable potential for practical deterpenation applications.\nThis study may provide insights into controlling the pore structure\nand chemistry of ionic porous polymers, potentially enabling their\napplication in separating valuable natural products with similar structures.