A novel luminescent cadmium(II) MOFs exhibiting a sensitive and selective detection of trace amounts of nitroaromatics with excellent recyclability

A novel Cd-MOFs is synthesized and shows (1,3,4)-connected 3-nodal network. Compound 1 as a luminescent probe can sense nitroaromatics with highly sensitivity, selectivity and excellent recyclability. [Display omitted] •A novel Cd-MOFs is synthesized and shows (1,3,4)-connected 3-nodal network.•Compound 1 as a luminescent probe can sense nitroaromatics.•Compound 1 is an excellent recyclable luminescent sensor with highly sensitivity and selectivity. Recently, cadmium(II) MOFs received more attentions due to their intriguing properties for chemical sensing due to the combination of conjugated organic ligands and its d10 electronic configuration. A novel Cd(II) MOFs, formulated as {[Cd2(L4−)(H2O)6]·2H2O}n (1), was obtained from a mixture of 3-(3′,5′-dicarboxyphenyl)pyridine-2,6-dicarboxylic acid (H4L) and Cd(NO3)2·4H2O under solvothermal conditions. Compound 1 shows a (1,3,4)-connected 3-nodal network with the point symbol of {0}{103}2 and was structurally characterized by IR spectroscopy, elemental analysis, thermogravimetric analysis, single-crystal X-ray diffraction and powder X-ray diffraction analysis. In the solid state, 1 displays a strong photoluminescence and an excellent solvent stability. In addition, the luminescence sensing results indicate a highly selective and sensitive sensing for nitroaromatics with excellent recyclability.