Heteronuclear metal–organic framework‐based fluorescent sensor for the detection of tetracycline antibiotics

Abstract

The residues of tetracycline antibiotics (TCs) have caused serious environmental pollution due to the multi‐field application. In order to rapidly detect TCs, there is an urgent need to design new fluorescence sensor. Herein, a heterometallic metal‐organic framework (HNU‐61) is constructed and used as a fluorescence sensor for detecting the TCs. InHNU‐61, both Zn2+and Li+ions are assembled into the crystal structure, in which Zn2+adopts tetrahedral coordination mode, and can be served as the potential coordination site. The 3D structure ofHNU‐61is formed by the connection between Zn2+/Li+and isophthalic acid (m‐BDC2−) ligand with the 1D channel alongaaxis. Among the six categories of antibiotics,HNU‐61can effectively detect TCs, including tetracycline hydrochloride (TCY), chlortetracycline hydrochloride (CTE), doxycycline hydrochloride (DOX), and oxytetracycline hydrochloride (OXY) with the detection limits of 6.5 × 10−8 M, 9.2 × 10−8 M, 4.5 × 10−7 M, and 3.9 × 10−7 M, respectively. Furthermore,HNU‐61enables a rapid and sensitive detection of TCs with good anti‐interference and circulation. The detection mechanism can be attributed to the interaction between Zn2+inHNU‐61and TCs.