Covalent organic frameworks(COFs) are a novel kind of crystalline organic polymer constructed with monomers via covalent bonds.COFs possess some properties such as large specific surface areas

good thermal and chemical stability

predictable control of structures and functions

etc.Based on the outstanding properties

COFs have a wide range of applications in gas storage

drug delivery

proton conduction and heterogeneous catalysis.The diverse structures and abundant functional groups also make COFs attractive in separation science including chromatography and sample pretreatment.COFs and their composites have been employed as potential sorbents for solid phase extraction

magnetic solid phase extraction and solid phase microextraction.In addition

COFs have been used as new stationary phases for gas chromatography

high performance liquid chromatography and capillary electrochromatography.The latest progress of COFs in separation science in the past 3 years has been summarized in this article

specially highlighting the key advancements of COFs in sample pretreatment such as aqueous media

food matrices

biological samples and offering a comprehensive overview in separation of organic molecules including chiral and isomeric compounds.This review also provides a reference and outlook for further exploration on the applications of COFs.