A new two-fold interpenetrated Cd(II)-based metal-organic framework as a fluorescent probe for nitro-aromatic compounds

Luminescent metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have been extensively investigated as sensors for detection of various compounds. In this work, 5,5',5''-((benzene-1,3,5-tricarbonyl)tris(azanediyl))triisophthalic acid (H6L) and 1,3,5-tri(1H-imidazol-1-yl)benzene (tib) were reacted with Cd(NO3)2·4H2O under solvothermal conditions to generate a MOF [Cd3(H2O)3(L)(tib)2]·5DMA·4H2O (1) (DMA = N,N-dimethylacetamide). Single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis revealed that 1 is a 2-fold interpenetrated three-dimensional framework composed of Cd-L and Cd-tib two-dimensional networks. Furthermore, its fluorescence and sensing capability towards common organic compounds were explored. The results indicate that 1 could function as a fluorescent probe for nitro-aromatic compounds, especially for 2,4,6-trinitrophenol (TNP) and 4-nitrophenol (4-NP).