A two-fold interpenetrated metal-organic framework for the highly selective detection of explosive picric acid

A two-fold interpenetrated metal-organic framework{[Zn(bpydb)(H2O)](DMF)(0.75)} (1, DMF = N,N-dimethylformamide), involving the aromatic trigonal heterofunctional ligand 4,4'-(4,4'-bipyridine-2,6-diyl) dibenzoic acid (bpydbH(2)) and Zn(II) metal center has been successfully synthesized under solvothermal condition. The structure of 1 was characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction, which shows a two-fold interpenetrated 3-connected framework with ThSi2-type topology. The luminescent sensing of different nitro-explosives was investigated, and the results indicated that 1 could behave as an effective sensor for detecting picric acid (PA) with high selectivity and sensitivity. Furthermore, the quenching mechanism has also been investigated in detail. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.