(4,5,8)-Connected Cationic Coordination Polymer Material as Explosive Chemosensor Based on the in Situ Generated AIE Tetrazolyl-Tetraphenylethylene Derivative

A multidentate tetrazole molecule based on a TPE core, tetrakis[4-(H-1-tetrazol-5-yl)phenyl]ethylene (H(4)ttpe) with combined advantages of two functional groups, was synthesized by cycloaddition reaction of the corresponding organic benzonitrile derivative and azide salt. Coordination self-assembly of the in situ formed aggregation-induced emission polytetrazole luminogen with cadmium(II) ion produces an unprecedented tetrazolyl-TPE-based microporous cationic metal-organic framework (MOF) with an unusual (4,5,8T14)connected net of {[Cd-4(H(4)ttpe)(2)Cl-5]center dot(N-3)(3)}, in which the H(4)ttpe serves as the first undeprotonated tetrazole ligand of octa-coordinating bridging mode. We investigate, for the first time, the utilization of the luminescent MOF containing a TPE core decorated with tetrazolyl terminals for explosive detection based on the change in fluorescence intensity, which shows high selectivity and efficiency in fluorescence quenching toward TNP detection in water solution.

Automated summary

A multidentate tetrazole molecule based on a TPE core was synthesized and used to construct a novel tetrazolyl-TPE-based cationic metal-organic framework. This framework showed high selectivity and efficiency in fluorescence quenching towards TNP detection in water solution.