5‐(4′‐carboxylphenoxy) isophthalic acid and 1, 4‐bis(1‐imidazolyl)benzene appended Co(II)‐based MOF as efficient photocatalyst for nitrofurantoin degradation

A new Cobalt(II)‐based metal–organic framework (MOF) with composition [Co2(μ2‐OH)(L)(bib)·H2O·2DMA]n (1) (H3L = 5‐[4′‐carboxylphenoxy] isophthalic acid, bib = 1, 4‐bis[1‐imidazolyl]benzene, DMA = dimethylacetamide) has been solvothermally synthesized and characterized. The MOF exhibits unprecedented topology with Schläfli symbol (43)2(4.66.1686) and display optical band gap of 3.68 eV and hence utilized as photocatalyst to photodegrade antibiotics such as metronidazole, tinidazole, nitrofurantoin, and dimetridazole. Among these antibiotics, it displays exceptional photocatalytic degradation of nitrofurantoin. Additional studies suggest that at pH 5 and 5 mg/L dosage of 1, 99.66% of nitrofurantoin decomposes at its 40 ppm concentration. Further, mechanistic pathway for light‐driven nitrofurantoin decomposition has been explored by utilizing experimental, namely, radical trapping experiments and computational techniques employing density of states and Hirshfeld surface analyses.