Interest in Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs) has escalated in recent years due to potential applications in gas storage, catalysis and ion-exchange. The growing demand for these multifunctional materials imposes expectations of certain properties, which are often met by variations in construction and choice of linking ligands.
This Advance Article by Francisco Javier Martínez Casado and colleagues from Spain and Italy reports the synthesis, structural characterisation and photophysical properties of two new lead(II) butyrate-based compounds, with 3-dimensional MOF architechtures. Metal and ligand selection were targeted towards obtaining active luminescent materials, particularly due to the intense optical properties of lead(II) and the characteristic amphiphilic behaviour (organic or inorganic) of the family of metal alkanoates, also known as ‘metal soaps’.
The crystal structures of the compounds are very similar, with luminescence detected for the first time during data collection (see left). Analysis of the photoluminescence properties by UV-Vis absorption spectroscopy and steady-state fluorescence and lifetime measurements revealed exciting optical properties for the two lead(II) compounds. Excitation by UV radiation resulted in intense fluorescence indicating potential applications in the tuning of emission energies of MOFs. Future work in this area will explore these crystalline systems as potential host structures to generate electro- and photo- responsive materials for novel molecular devices.
Read the full article to find out more!
Luminescent lead(II) complexes: new three-dimensional mixed ligand MOFs
Francisco Javier Martínez Casado, Laura Cañadillas-Delgado, Fabio Cucinotta, Andrés Guerrero-Martínez, Miguel Ramos Riesco, Leonardo Marchese and José Antonio Rodríguez Cheda
CrystEngComm, 2012, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C2CE06546K
