Tunable Light Emission and Multiresponsive Luminescent Sensitivities in Aqueous Solutions of Two Series of Lanthanide Metal–Organic Frameworks Based on Structurally Related Ligands

Two series of lanthanide metal–organic frameworks (Ln-MOFs) from two structurally related flexible carboxylate-based ligands were solvothermally synthesized. H3L2 with additional −CH2− group provides more flexibility and different coordination modes and conformations compared with H3L1. As a result, 2-Ln MOFs are modulated from two-dimensional kgd of 1-Ln to three-dimensional rtl topological frameworks and further achieve enhanced chemical stability. The Eu- and Tb-MOFs exhibit strong fluorescent emission at the solid state because of the antenna effect of the ligands. Interestingly, the emissions can be tuned by simply doping Eu3+ and Tb3+ of different concentrations within the EuxTb1–x MOFs. Notably, 2-Ln MOFs realize nearly white light emission by means of a trichromatic approach (red of Eu­(III), green of Tb­(III), and blue of the H3L2 ligand). Furthermore, 2-Ln MOFs also exhibit water stability and demonstrate high selective and sensitive sensing activities toward Fe­(III) and Cr­(VI) in aqueous solutions. The results further highlight the importance of the ligand flexibility on tuning MOF structures with improved structural stability and ion-sensing properties.