Tuning the luminescence of two 3d–4f metal–organic frameworks for the fast response and highly selective detection of aniline

Two 3D solvent-stable zinc(II)–lanthanide(III) heterometallic metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) {[(CH3)2NH2]2[Zn2Ln2(FDA)6(DMF)2]·2DMF}n [Ln = Eu (Zn-Eu) and Tb (Zn-Tb); H2FDA = furan-2,5-dicarboxylic acid] based on Zn2Ln2(COO)10 tetrametallic clusters and furan-2,5-dicarboxylic acid have been successfully synthesized. These MOFs can serve as luminescent sensors for the fast response and highly selective detection of aniline via luminescence quenching. More importantly, a linear correlation is observed between their luminescence and the low concentration of aniline and the detection limits of aniline are 7.5 μmol L−1 for Zn-Eu and 5.2 μmol L−1 for Zn-Tb.