A micrometer-sized hybrid crystalline material was facilely fabricated from the synergistic coordination chemistry of two types of 2-hydroxyazobenzene building blocks and cobalt ions. This hybrid crystalline material functioned as both receptor and signal reporter in cyanide (CN-) sensing with ratiometric absorption responses at 456 nm and 537 nm. The mechanism of CN- sensing involves partial ligand dissociation accompanied by the formation of a new organic metal-CN- adduct. We believe that this protocol would be valuable in achieving the expected selectivities and sensitivities for a wide variety of analytes in many chemical and biological systems in the future.
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