Lanthanide metal-organic frameworks containing a novel flexible ligand for luminescence sensing of small organic molecules and selective adsorptionElectronic supplementary information (ESI) available. CCDC 1035915-1035919. For ESI and crystallographic data in CIF or other electronic format see DOI: 10.1039/c5ta00061k

Five lanthanide metal-organic frameworks, [Ln( L )(H 2 O)(NMP)]·1.5H 2 O (Ln = Ce ( 1 ), Pr ( 2 ); H 3 L = 1,3,5-tris(4-carboxyphenyl-1-ylmethyl)-2,4,6-trimethylbenzene), and [Ln 2 ( L ) 2 (H 2 O) 3 ]·2H 2 O (Ln = Eu ( 3 ), Tm ( 4 ), Yb ( 5 )), have been synthesized and characterized. Complexes 1-5 exhibit similar 1D channels through the linkage of Ln-carboxylate chains with the backbones of H 3 L ligands. The channels for complexes 1 and 2 are occupied by coordinated NMP molecules. 3 shows potential application for the luminescence sensing of small organic molecules. Moreover, 5 exhibits selective adsorption of CO 2 over N 2 and CH 4 and catalytic activities toward the cyanosilylation reaction. Lanthanide MOFs with fluorescent sensing and selective adsorption have been synthesized and characterized based on a novel flexible ligand.