Assembly of a rod indium–organic framework with fluorescence properties for selective sensing of Cu2+, Fe3+ and nitroaromatics in water

Abstract

A rod In-MOF (JOU-25) constructed from a 4,4′,4′′-triphenylamine tricarboxylic acid ligand has been solvothermally synthesized. Single-crystal X-ray diffraction shows that JOU-25 displays a three-dimensional framework with two types of unique homochiral In–O–In helical chains. Due to its strong fluorescence emission and exposed uncoordinated carboxyl groups within channels, JOU-25 was developed as a highly sensitive fluorescence sensor for detecting Cu²⁺, Fe³⁺ and nitroaromatics in water. These results indicate that JOU-25 holds potential applications in the development of new fluorescence sensing materials. This work also provides a new clue for the construction of chiral MOFs based on rod-shaped building blocks.