Three new luminescent Cd(ii)-MOFs by regulating the tetracarboxylate and auxiliary co-ligands, displaying high sensitivity for Fe3+ in aqueous solution.

Three new Cd(ii)-MOFs, [Cd(L1)0.5(bpp)] (1), [Cd(L1)0.5(bipy)] (2), and [Cd(L2)0.5(bipy)] (3) [H4Ln = (1,1′:4′,1′′-terphenyl)-2′,x,x′′,5′-tetracarboxylic acid (n = 1, x = 3, and n = 2, x = 4), bpp = 1,3-di(4-pyridyl)propane, and bipy = 2,2′-bipyridine], have been synthesized using Cd(ii) ions and isomeric H4Ln ligands in the presence of auxiliary ligands via solvothermal reaction, and have been fully characterized by elemental analysis, FT-IR spectroscopy, powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Complex 1 is a three-dimensional (3D) pillar-layered network built from L14− and bridging bpp co-ligands with a binodal (4,8)-connected gsp2 topology and a symbol of (44·62)(416·612). 2 was successfully synthesized using bipy instead of the bpp ligand used to assemble 1 giving a 2D 4-connected sql net. 3 is a 3D reticular framework with [Cd2(COO)4] SBUs based on L24− ligands, displaying a (4,4)-connected lvt (42·84) topology. X-ray diffraction analysis revealed that the structures of the MOFs can be mediated by the steric effect of the tetracarboxylate and secondary co-ligands. The solid-state luminescence properties of the MOFs were measured carefully by ultraviolet irradiation at room temperature. In particular, 3 exhibited a high sensitivity for Fe3+ in aqueous solutions of mixed metal ions, which makes it a promising crystalline material to be a luminescent probe for Fe3+. Importantly, 3 can keep its original framework and be reused in sensing experiments. The sensing mechanism has also been studied in detail. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]