An anionic single-walled metal-organic nanotube with an armchair (3,3) topology as an extremely smart adsorbent for the effective and selective adsorption of cationic carcinogenic dyes.

A novel discrete single-walled metal-organic nanotube (JLU-MONT1) with a rare armchair (3,3) carbon nanotube topology is successfully synthesized, which is further linked by hydrogen-bonds forming a 3D supramolecular architecture. Benefiting from its anionic skeletal features and open mesoporous channels (21 Å), JLU-MONT1 exhibits extremely high efficiency and capability to adsorb carcinogens basic red 9 and basic violet 14.