Role of the Electronically Excited-State Hydrogen Bonding and Water Clusters in the Luminescent Metal–Organic Framework

The electronically excited state and luminescence property of metal-organic framework Zn(3-tzba)(2,2'-bipy)(H2O)·nH2O have been investigated using the density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent DFT (TDDFT). The calculated geometry and infrared spectra in the ground state are consistent with the experimental results. The frontier molecular orbitals and electronic configuration indicated that the origin of luminescence is attributed to a ligand-to-ligand charge transfer (LLCT). We theoretically demonstrated that the hydrogen bond H47···O5═C is weakened in the excited state S1; the weakening of the excited-state hydrogen bonding should be beneficial to the luminescence. To explore the effect of the water clusters on the luminescence, we studied four complexes Zn(3-tzba)(2,2'-bipy)(H2O)·3H2O, Zn(3-tzba)(2,2'-bipy)(H2O)·2H2O, Zn(3-tzba)(2,2'-bipy)(H2O)·H2O, and Zn(3-tzba)(2,2'-bipy)(H2O). The results reveal that the presence of water should play an important role in the emission characteristics of the MOF. Also, the UV-vis absorption and emission spectra of Zn(3-tzba)(2,2'-bipy)(H2O)·3H2O are in good agreement with the experimental results.