Heteronuclear metal–organic framework‐based fluorescent sensor for the detection of tetracycline antibiotics

The residues of tetracycline antibiotics (TCs) have caused serious environmental pollution due to the multi‐field application. In order to rapidly detect TCs, there is an urgent need to design new fluorescence sensor. Herein, a heterometallic metal‐organic framework ( HNU‐61 ) is constructed and used as a fluorescence sensor for detecting the TCs. In HNU‐61 , both Zn 2+ and Li + ions are assembled into the crystal structure, in which Zn 2+ adopts tetrahedral coordination mode, and can be served as the potential coordination site. The 3D structure of HNU‐61 is formed by the connection between Zn 2+ /Li + and isophthalic acid (m‐BDC 2− ) ligand with the 1D channel along a axis. Among the six categories of antibiotics, HNU‐61 can effectively detect TCs, including tetracycline hydrochloride (TCY), chlortetracycline hydrochloride (CTE), doxycycline hydrochloride (DOX), and oxytetracycline hydrochloride (OXY) with the detection limits of 6.5 × 10 −8 M, 9.2 × 10 −8 M, 4.5 × 10 −7 M, and 3.9 × 10 −7 M, respectively. Furthermore, HNU‐61 enables a rapid and sensitive detection of TCs with good anti‐interference and circulation. The detection mechanism can be attributed to the interaction between Zn 2+ in HNU‐61 and TCs.