An anthracene-based microporous metal–organic framework for adsorbing CO 2 and detecting TNP sensitivity

A new anthracene-based metal–organic framework (MOF, named as CUST-607), [Cd 3 (H 2 O)(H 3 L) 2 (dia) 2 ]·4DMA·10H 2 O (dia = 9,10-bis(1 H -imidazol-1-yl)anthracene, H 3 L = 4,4′,4′′-[1,3,5-benzenetriyltris(carbonylimino)]tris(benzoate)), was synthesized by a solvothermal method. Through single X-ray diffraction analysis, CUST-607 displays a three-dimensional multihole network with the triclinic space group of P 1̄ and (3,3,4,5)-connected nodes. Gas adsorption and desorption experiments show that CUST-607 has a microporous structure with a large surface area of 702.15 m 2 g −1 . CUST-607 also exhibits selective and strong adsorption of CO 2 with a 40 kJ mol −1 Q st value. Luminescence sensing experiments show that CUST-607 has a high selectivity for detecting nitroaromatic explosives, particularly for 2,4,6-trinitrophenol. The quenching constant K sv is 1.43 × 10 5 M −1 , higher than that of most reported MOFs. In addition, the CUST-607 fluorescence sensor exhibits high recyclability in detecting nitrobenzene and 2,4,6-trinitrophenol and can be used as potential sensors in practical applications.