Selective fluorescence sensors for detection of nitroaniline and metal Ions based on ligand-based luminescent metal-organic frameworks

Abstract Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are porous crystalline materials with high potential for applications in fluorescence sensors. In this work, two solvent-induced Zn(II)–based metal-organic frameworks, Zn 3 L 3 (DMF) 2 ( 1 ) and Zn 3 L 3 (DMA) 2 (H 2 O) 3 ( 2 ) (L=4,4′-stilbenedicarboxylic acid), were investigated as selective sensing materials for detection of nitroaromatic compounds and metal ions. The sensing experiments show that 1 and 2 both exhibit selective fluorescence quenching toward nitroaniline with a low detection limit. In addition, 1 exhibits high selectivity for detection of Fe 3+ and Al 3+ by significant fluorescence quenching or enhancement effect. While for 2 , it only exhibits significant fluorescence quenching effect for Fe 3+ . The results indicate that 1 and 2 are both promising fluorescence sensors for detecting and recognizing nitroaniline and metal ions with high sensitivity and selectivity.