A luminescent metal–organic framework for highly selective sensing of nitrobenzene and aniline

Abstract

A stable nonanuclear rare earth carboxylate cluster based metal–organic framework, (DMA)₂[Y₉(μ₃-OH)₈(μ₂-OH)₃BTB₆]_n·(solv)_x (gea-MOF-1) (DMA = dimethylamine cation and BTB = 1,3,5-benzene(tris)benzoate) can act as a fluorescent sensor for highly sensitive and selective detection of nitrobenzene and aniline through fluorescence quenching. More importantly, the detection limit of nitrobenzene is on the 5–60 ppm scale.