Construction of Multifunctional Luminescent Lanthanide MOFs for Luminescent Sensing of Temperature, Trifluoroacetic Acid Vapor and Explosives

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) with multifunctional and tunable optical properties have unique advantages in the field of sensing, and the structure and properties of MOFs are significantly influenced by the ligands. In this study, a Y-type tricarboxylic acid ligand containing amide bonds was synthesized through functional guidance, and three isomorphic and heterogeneous three-dimensional MOFs (Eu-MOF, Tb-MOF, and Gd-MOF) were obtained by solvothermal reaction. Further studies revealed that both the Tb-MOF and Eu-MOF could selectively detect picric acid (PA). The luminescence quenching of the two MOFs by PA was attributed to competing absorption and photoelectron energy transfer mechanisms. In addition, due to the energy transfer between Tb and Rhodamine B, Rhodamine B was encapsulated into Tb-MOF. The obtained material exhibited a linear relationship between the temperature parameters I544/I584 and temperature within the range of 280-400 K, the correlation coefficient (R2) reached an impressive value of 0.999, and the absolute sensitivity of the sample used for temperature sensing was 1.534% K-1. What is more, the material exhibited a good response to trifluoroacetic acid vapor, which suggests the potential of the material for temperature sensing and detection of trifluoroacetic acid vapor. The designed and investigated strategy can also serve as a reference for further research on excellent multifunctional sensors.

Bioinspired Framework Catalysts: From Enzyme Immobilization to Biomimetic Catalysis

Enzymatic catalysis has fueled considerable interest from chemists due to its high efficiency and selectivity. However, the structural complexity and vulnerability hamper the application potentials of enzymes. Driven by the practical demand for chemical conversion, there is a long-sought quest for bioinspired catalysts reproducing and even surpassing the functions of natural enzymes. As nanoporous materials with high surface areas and crystallinity, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) represent an exquisite case of how natural enzymes and their active sites are integrated into porous solids, affording bioinspired heterogeneous catalysts with superior stability and customizable structures. In this review, we comprehensively summarize the advances of bioinspired MOFs for catalysis, discuss the design principle of various MOF-based catalysts, such as MOF-enzyme composites and MOFs embedded with active sites, and explore the utility of these catalysts in different reactions. The advantages of MOFs as enzyme mimetics are also highlighted, including confinement, templating effects, and functionality, in comparison with homogeneous supramolecular catalysts. A perspective is provided to discuss potential solutions addressing current challenges in MOF catalysis.

Recent progresses in luminescent metal-organic frameworks (LMOFs) as sensors for the detection of anions and cations in aqueous solution

The discharge of excessive metal ions and anions into water bodies leads to the serious pollution of water and environment, which in turn has a certain impact on industry, agriculture, and human life. Because of the unique advantages of luminescent metal-organic frameworks (LMOFs), they have been successfully explored as various fluorescent probes to quickly and effectively detect these pollutants. This perspective not only introduces the design strategy and classification of LMOFs, especially the construction methods of water-stable LMOFs, but also reports the latest progresses in some LMOFs between 2016 and 2020 as well as expounds the mechanisms of LMOFs for detecting anions and cations. Moreover, the luminescence properties of LMOFs are related to the selection of metal ions, the structure of organic ligands, the pore size, and the interaction of guest molecules. Finally, the further development of LMOFs is summarized and prospected in this field.

H-Bonded and metal(ii)-organic architectures assembled from an unexplored aromatic tricarboxylic acid: structural variety and functional properties

This study reports the application of an aromatic tricarboxylic acid, 2,5-di(4-carboxylphenyl)nicotinic acid (H3dcna) as a versatile and unexplored organic building block for assembling a new series of metal(ii) (M = Co, Ni, Zn, Fe, and Mn) complexes and coordination polymers, namely [M(Hdcna)(phen)2(H2O)]·H2O (M = Co (1), Ni (2)), [Zn(μ-Hdcna)(phen)]n (3), [Co(μ-Hdcna)(bipy)(H2O)2]n·nH2O (4), [Zn2(μ-Hdcna)2(bipy)2(H2O)4]·6H2O (5), [Zn(μ3-Hdcna)(H2biim)]n (6), [Ni2(Hdcna)2(μ-bpb)(bpb)2(H2O)4] (7), [Fe(μ4-Hdcna)(μ-H2O)]n·nH2O (8), and [Mn3(μ5-dcna)2(bipy)2(H2O)2]n·2nH2O (9). Such a diversity of products was hydrothermally prepared from the corresponding metal(ii) salts, H3dcna as a principal multifunctional ligand, and N-donor mediators of crystallization (1,10-phenanthroline, phen; 2,2'-bipyridine, bipy; 2,2'-biimidazole, H2biim; or 1,4-bis(pyrid-4-yl)benzene, bpb). The obtained products 1-9 were fully characterized by standard methods (elemental analysis, FTIR, TGA, PXRD) and the structures were established by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. These vary from the discrete monomers (1, 2) and dimers (5, 7) to the 1D (3, 4, 6) and 2D (8, 9) coordination polymers (CPs). Structural and topological characteristics of hydrogen-bonded or metal-organic architectures in 1-9 were highlighted, revealing that their structural multiplicity depends on the type of metal(ii) source and crystallization mediator. Thermal stability as well as luminescent, magnetic, or catalytic properties were explored for selected compounds. In particular, the zinc(ii) derivatives 3, 5, and 6 were applied as efficient heterogeneous catalysts for the cyanosilylation of aldehydes with trimethylsilyl cyanide at room temperature. The catalytic reactions were optimized by tuning the different reaction parameters (solvent composition, time, catalyst loading) and the substrate scope was also explored. Compound 5 revealed superior catalytic activity leading to up to 75% product yields, while maintaining its original performance upon recycling for at least four reaction cycles. Finally, the obtained herein products represent the unique examples of coordination compounds derived from H3dcna, thus opening up the use of this multifunctional tricarboxylic acid for generating complexes and coordination polymers with interesting structures and functional properties.

Assembly of four new cobalt coordination polymers modulated by N-coligands: sensitive and selective sensing of nitroaromatics, Fe3+and Cr2O72−in water

Four new Co-CPs (1to4) have been obtained with the modulation of N-coligands.2and3can serve as multi-responsive sensors for rapid and sensitive detection of nitroaromatics, Fe³⁺and Cr₂O₇²⁻in water.