Nanoscale metal-organic frameworks as highly sensitive luminescent sensors for Fe2+ in aqueous solution and living cells

We report the exploration of fluorescent nanoscale metal-organic frameworks (nMOF-253s) for highly selective and sensitive detection of Fe2+ ions in aqueous solution. Moreover, nMOF-253 of 50 nm is successfully applied in fluorescent bioimaging and intracellular Fe2+ sensing in HeLa cells.