Unprecedented Solvent-Dependent Sensitivities in Highly Efficient Detection of Metal Ions and Nitroaromatic Compounds by a Fluorescent Barium Metal–Organic Framework

The
assembly of a fluorescent dicarboxylate ligand with a barium ion resulted
in the formation of a 3D metal–organic framework, Ba5(ADDA)5(EtOH)2(H2O)3·5DMF
(UPC-17), based on a 1D rod-shaped secondary building
unit. The unprecedented solvent-dependent sensitivities of UPC-17 for the detection of Fe3+/Al3+ ions and 4-nitrophenol
with high efficiency were observed for the first time. Significantly, UPC-17 exhibits superior “turn-off” detection
for the Fe3+ ion in methanol and acetone emulsions but
shows “turn-on” detection in tetrahydrofuran emulsion.
Furthermore, the visible color changes in the detection process make
them easy to distinguish by the naked eye, which further increases
its application potential.