Reactions of lanthanide nitrate, 1,3,5-benzenetrisbenzoic acid (H3BTB) and [RMI]Br ionic liquids (RMI = 1-alkyl-3-methylimidazolium; R = ethyl, propyl, butyl, amyl, or hexyl), gave rise to two novel lanthanide metal-organic frameworks (Ln-MOFs) [Ln(BTB)H2O], where Ln = Eu , Tb . In addition to helping solubilise the starting materials under the reaction conditions there is evidence that [RMI]Br itself can play a structure directing role and is intimately involved in template ordering in [Ln(BTB)H2O], even though neither the [RMI](+) cation nor the Br(-) anion is occluded into the ultimate structure. and are isostructural and consist of infinite rod-shaped lanthanide-carboxylate building units which are further bridged by trigonal-planar BTB ligands to give noninterpenetrated open 3D frameworks featuring a (6,6)-connected topology with the point symbol (4(4)·6(7)·8(4))(4(8)·6(7)). Importantly, the strong emission of and dispersed in water prompted us to explore their application for detection of different nitroaromatics in an aquatic system. and show similar selectivity and sensitivity towards the presence of trace amounts of nitroaromatic analytes in the aqueous phase, showing potential as explosive sensors.