Syntheses and structures of two novel fluorescent metal-organic frameworks generated from a tridentate donor-acceptor motif ligand.

The tridentate organic ligand 4,4',4''-(4,4,8,8,12,12-hexamethyl-8,12-dihydro-4H-benzo[9,1]quinolizino[3,4,5,6,7-defg]acridine-2,6,10-triyl)tribenzoic acid (H3L) has been synthesized (as the methanol 1.25-solvate, C48H39NO6·1.25CH3OH). As a donor-acceptor motif molecule, H3L possess strong intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) fluorescence. Through hydrogen bonds, H3L molecules construct a two-dimensional (2D) network, which pack together into three-dimensional (3D) networks with an ABC stacking pattern in the crystalline state. Based on H3L and M(NO3)2 salts (M = Cd and Zn) under solvothermal conditions, two metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), namely, catena-poly[[triaquacadmium(II)]-μ-10-(4-carboxyphenyl)-4,4'-(4,4,8,8,12,12-hexamethyl-8,12-dihydro-4H-benzo[9,1]quinolizino[3,4,5,6,7-defg]acridine-2,6-diyl)dibenzoato], [Cd(C48H37NO6)(H2O)3]n, I, and poly[[μ3-4,4',4''-(4,4,8,8,12,12-hexamethyl-8,12-dihydro-4H-benzo[9,1]quinolizino[3,4,5,6,7-defg]acridine-2,6,10-triyl)tribenzoato](μ3-hydroxido)zinc(II)], [Zn2(C48H36NO6)(OH)]n, II, were synthesized. Single-crystal analysis revealed that both MOFs adopt a 3D structure. In I, partly deprotonated HL2- behaves as a bidentate ligand to link a CdII ion to form a one-dimensional chain. In the solid state of I, the existence of weak interactions, such as O-H...O hydrogen bonds and π-π interactions, plays an essential role in aligning 2D nets and 3D networks with AB packing patterns for I. The deprotonated ligand L3- in II is utilized as a tridentate building block to bind ZnII ions to construct 3D networks, where unusual Zn4O14 clusters act as connection nodes. As a donor-acceptor molecule, H3L exhibits fluorescence with a photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY) of 70% in the solid state. In comparison, the PL of both MOFs is red-shifted with even higher PLQYs of 79 and 85% for I and II, respectively.