Selective and recyclable tandem sensing of PO43- and Al3+ by a water-stable terbium-based metal-organic framework

Ming Chen; Ke-Yang Wu; Wei-Lun Pan; Nai-Hai Huang; Rong-Tian Li; Jin-Xiang Chen

doi:10.1016/j.saa.2020.119084

Selective and recyclable tandem sensing of PO₄^3- and Al³⁺ by a water-stable terbium-based metal-organic framework

Spectrochim Acta A Mol Biomol Spectrosc. 2021 Feb 15:247:119084. doi: 10.1016/j.saa.2020.119084. Epub 2020 Oct 22.

Authors

Ming Chen¹, Ke-Yang Wu², Wei-Lun Pan², Nai-Hai Huang², Rong-Tian Li², Jin-Xiang Chen³

Affiliations

¹ Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of New Drug Screening, Guangzhou Key Laboratory of Drug Research for Emerging Virus Prevention and Treatment, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, Guangdong, China; School of Pharmacy, Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, Sichuan 646000, China.
² Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of New Drug Screening, Guangzhou Key Laboratory of Drug Research for Emerging Virus Prevention and Treatment, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, Guangdong, China.
³ Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of New Drug Screening, Guangzhou Key Laboratory of Drug Research for Emerging Virus Prevention and Treatment, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, Guangdong, China. Electronic address: jxchen@smu.edu.cn.

PMID: 33128945
DOI: 10.1016/j.saa.2020.119084

Abstract

Herein, a luminescent water-stable terbium-based metal-organic framework (MOF) {[Tb(Cmdcp)(H₂O)₃]₂(NO₃)₂·5H₂O}_n (1, H₃CmdcpBr = N-carboxymethyl-(3,5-dicarboxyl)pyridinium bromide) has been synthesized and used for the recyclable sensing of PO₄^3- and Al³⁺ in tandem. MOF 1 acts as a fluorescent sensor for PO₄^3- by the luminescence "turn-off" mechanism with high selectivity over other anions, such as F^-, Cl^-, Br^-, I^-, NO₃^-, H₂PO₄^-, HSO₄^-, HCO₃^-, HSO₃^-, SO₄^2-, CO₃^2- and HPO₄^2-. The formed PO₄^3-@1 complex further acts as the Al³⁺ sensor with the luminescence "turn-on" mechanism, also with high selectivity over diverse inorganic cations of Fe²⁺, Mn²⁺, Co²⁺, Ni²⁺, Hg²⁺, Na⁺, K⁺, Li⁺, Ag⁺, Mg²⁺, Ca²⁺, Cd²⁺, Pb²⁺, Cu²⁺, and Zn²⁺. The detection process for both PO₄^3- and Al³⁺ can be directly observed with naked eyes under the UV light at 365 nm. The detection limits for PO₄^3- and Al³⁺ are 1.1 μM and 6.6 μM, respectively. Such a sensing cycle is further transferable to urine and serum samples with a satisfactory near-quantitative recovery, highlighting its good potential in biologically relevant applications.

Keywords: Biological fluids; Fluorescent sensing; Metal-organic framework; PO(4)(3−) and Al(3+); Terbium.