Rare Earth <b>alb</b>-MOFs: From Synthesis to Their Deployment for Amine-Sensing Application in Aqueous Media
Bayan Al-Mohammadi, Jianxin Wang, Hao Jiang, Prakash T. Parvatkar, Aleksander Shkurenko, Prashant M. Bhatt, Nada Y. Tashkandi, Osama Shekhah, Omar F. Mohammed, Mohamed Eddaoudi, Dalal Alezi
Abstract
The pursuit of developing sensors, characterized by their fluorescence-intensity enhancement or “turn-on” behavior, for accurately detecting noxious small molecules, such as amines, at minimal levels remains a significant challenge. Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) have emerged as promising candidates as sensors as a result of their diverse structural features and tunable properties. This study introduces the rational synthesis of a new highly coordinated (6,12)-connected rare earth (RE) alb -MOF-3, by combining the nonanuclear 12-connected hexagonal prismatic building units, [RE 9 (μ 3 -O) 2 (μ 3 -X) 12 (OH) 2 (H 2 O) 7 (O 2 C−) 12 ], with the 6-connected rigid trigonal prismatic extended triptycene ligand. The resulting Y- alb -MOF-3 material is distinguished by its high microporosity and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller surface area of approximately 1282 m 2 /g, which offers notable hydrolytic stability. Remarkably, it demonstrates selective detection capabilities for primary aliphatic amines in aqueous media, as evidenced by fluorescence turn-on behavior and photoluminescence (PL) titration measurements. This work emphasizes the potential of MOFs as sensors in advancing their selectivity and sensitivity toward various analytes.