Novel Top-Down Synthesis of Covalent Organic Frameworks\nfor Uranyl Ion Capture

Seeking\n novel synthetic methodology to further promote the preparation\nof covalent organic frameworks (COFs) has long been our pursuit but\nremains a challenging task. Herein, we report a new protocol, a top-down\napproach for facile synthesis of COFs. Interestingly, our top-down\nroute can impressively generate extended COFs by reticular chemistry\nwhich cannot be accessed by the commonly used bottom-up synthesis\nroute. Notably, our top-down method also has outstanding advantages\nin achieving what we are pursuing in COFs, such as heteropores and\nmultiple components. The current findings not only dramatically reduce\nthe difficulty of COF synthesis but also are generally applicable\nfor the synthesis of complicated COFs constructed from different building\nblocks and linkages.