Dual functional three-dimensional LnMOFs for luminescence sensing of nitrobenzene and Fe3+ ions.

Two lanthanide MOFs, namely {{Me 2 NH 2 }[Tb III (L)]·3H 2 O·DMF} n ( 1 ) and {{Me 2 NH 2 }[Eu III (L)]·3H 2 O·DMF} n ( 2 ), based on the flexible ligand 5-(bis(4-carboxybenzyl)amino)isophthalic acid (H 4 L) have been synthesized under solvothermal conditions, where DMF = N , N -dimethylformamide. The two compounds exhibit a 3D structure with rectangle channels encapsulating [Me 2 NH 2 ] + cations. The microporous structure as well as the confinement of cations inside the MOFs pores allows 1 and 2 to act as dual-functional luminescent materials to detect nitroaromatics and metal ions. The experiments show that the luminescence of sample 1 in DMF solution was quenched when the nitrobenzene (NB) content reached 2.3 × 10 −2 mol/L and concentration of Fe 3+ reached 5 × 10 −4 mol/L. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]