A water-stable La-based coordination polymer for highly fluorescent detection of Fe3 + ion and nitrobenzene vapor

Abstract

By employing a triphenylamine moiety functionalized luminescent ligand, a new water-stable lanthanum-based coordination polymer {[La(HNTB)2(HPY)](H2O)6}n (1, H3NTB=4.4′,4″-nitrilotrisbenzoic acid, PY=pyridine) has been successfully synthesized, structurally identified and further used as a fluorescent probe for selective detection of Fe3+ ion and nitrobenzene vapor. Compound 1 is composed of a binuclear La unit that connected by the partly deprotonated HNTB2− ligand to afford a novel (3,12)-connected framework whose topology has not been reported so far. Notably, compound 1 exhibits robust architecture in water and shows strong blue emission under UV excitation, based on which it could behave as a fluorescent probe for selective detection of Fe3+ ion with good stability and recyclability. Additionally, 1 also shows a fast response to trace amount of nitrobenzene vapor via a fluorescence quenching.