Luminescent Anionic Metal–Organic Framework with Potential Nitrobenzene Sensing

Solvothermal reaction of multidentate organic ligand, 5,5′,5″,5‴,5],5]′-[1,2,3,4,5,6-phenylhexamethoxyl]hexaisophthalic acid (H 12 L), with Cd(NO 3 )·4H 2 O produced an anionic 3D metal–organic framework [(CH 3 ) 2 NH 2 ] 4 [Cd 3 (H 2 L)] ( 1 ), which features a novel cage-to-cage connection. Interestingly, the 1D channel, which is stacked by cages, is divided into uniform segments by molecular-scale bricks. The luminescent properties of compound 1 have been explored, which shows that 1 is a potential luminescent sensory material for nitrobenzene.