A luminescent metal-organic framework demonstrating ideal detection ability for nitroaromatic explosives

A 3D metal-organic framework, [NH2(CH3)(2)](2)[Cd-17(L)(12)(mu(3)-H2O)(4)(DMF)(2)(H2O)(2)]center dot solvent (1), has been constructed with a pi-electron rich aromatic ligand 2,4,6-tris[1-(3-carboxylphenoxy) ylmethyl] mesitylene (H3L) and d(10) configuration metal ion Cd2+ under solvothermal conditions. The crystal structure reveals that complex 1 consists of hexanuclear and trinuclear cadmium building units, which are further bridged by the multicarboxylate ligands to give a (3, 6, 12)-connected topological net. This complex exhibits strong ligand originated photoluminescence emission, which is selectively sensitive to electron-deficient nitroaromatic explosives (nitrobenzene, 4-nitrotoluene, 1,4-dinitrobenzene, 1,3-dinitrobenzene and 2,4-dinitrotoluene). This property makes complex 1 a potential fluorescence sensor for these chemicals.