Microporous Metal–Organic Framework with Lantern-like Dodecanuclear Metal Coordination Cages as Nodes for Selective Adsorption of C₂/C₁ Mixtures and Sensing of Nitrobenzene

A microporous metal–organic framework (FJU-12), {[Cd12(Trz)8(DMF)2(H2O)4]­(BDC)9}·2­(Me2NH2)·4DMF·16H2O (Trz = 1,2,4-triazole, BDC = terephthalic acid, DMF = N,N-dimethylformamide), was rationally constructed using unprecedented lantern-like 1,2,4-triazole-based dodecanuclear metal coordination cages as supermolecular building blocks. After activation, FJU-12a exhibits highly selective adsorption of C2 compound/CH4 mixtures and efficient sensing of nitrobenzene (NB). The selectivity (79.7) of C2H2/CH4 is comparable to the most selective Cu-TDPAT (82, TDPAT = 2,4,6-tris­(3,5-dicarboxylphenylamino)-1,3,5-triazine).