A luminescent heterometallic metal–organic framework for the naked-eye discrimination of nitroaromatic explosives

A luminescent heterometallic MOF with an interrupted cap topology was synthesized and characterized. This compound exhibits a strong blue-light emission and shows naked-eye selective detection toward trinitrobenzene (TNB) even in the presence of other nitro explosives. Furthermore, the compound is also capable of selectively sensing nitroaromatic picric acid (PA) based on the fluorescence quenching mechanism.