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Achieving such precise separation remains difficult because its components exhibit extremely similar physicochemical properties. Here, we address this challenge by developing a graded membrane cascade based on metal-organic framework CuBTC whose pore size and surface chemistry are continuously tuned through mild tannic acid treatment. Membranes with distinct sieving characteristics were created to sequentially co-separate linear and mono-branched alkanes and then selectively permeate aromatics. The integrated cascade fractionated a 15-component C5\u2013C7 mixture into three high-purity streams, ethylene feedstock, chemical intermediates, and gasoline fuel, with recoveries of 85%\u201390% and an estimated 91% reduction in energy consumption compared to conventional distillation. This strategy establishes an energy-efficient route toward molecular refining.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1093\/nsr\/nwag488","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,12]],"date-time":"2026-08-12T11:44:57Z","timestamp":1786535097000},"source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Molecular-level petroleum refining by graded membranes"],"prefix":"10.1093","volume":"13","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1131-4323","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Yuecheng","family":"Wang","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"State Key Laboratory of Catalysis, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Dalian 116023 ,","place":["China"]},{"name":"University of Chinese Academy of Sciences , Beijing 100049 ,","place":["China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Fang-Di","family":"Dong","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"MOE Key Laboratory of Bioinorganic and Synthetic Chemistry, GBRCE for 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