One-dimensional Europium-coordination polymer as luminescent sensor for highly selective and sensitive detection of 2,4,6-trinitrophenol

Abstract

Three isostructural lanthanide coordination polymers (LnCPs), [Ln(L)₆(DMF)]_n {HL = 2-(2-formylphenoxy) acetic acid, Ln = Sm (1); Eu (2); Tb (3)} have been synthesized by solvothermal reaction and characterized. Single crystal analyses revealed that the architectures of these LnCPs own one dimensional chain which can be further packed into two-dimensional architectures by hydrogen bonds. Moreover, these LnCPs can offer strategically placed uncoordinated formyl groups, which may act as hydrogen-bond acceptor in the sensing of nitro explosives. Luminescence measurements reveal that LnCPs 2 and 3 exhibit strong luminescence in solid states. LnCP 2 shows quick, highly selective and sensitive detection of 2,4,6-trinitrophenol (TNP) with the high quenching constant (2.6 × 10⁴ M^-1) and low detection limit (3.39 μM), which indicates that LnCP 2 is more efficient than most of Eu-based coordination polymers for the sensing of TNP. Furthermore, LnCP 2 represents the first example of one-dimensional Eu-based sensors with formyl group as hydrogen-bonding site in the detection of TNP.

Keywords: Fluorescent sensor; Lanthanide coordination polymers; Luminescence quenching; TNP.