Synthesis, characterization and photophysical properties of a new family of rare-earth cluster-based metal–organic frameworks

Abstract

In this work, nine new rare-earth metal–organic frameworks (RE-MOFs, where RE = Lu(III), Yb(III), Tm(III), Er(III), Ho(III), Dy(III), Tb(III), Gd(III), and Eu(III)) isostructural to Zr-MOF-808 are synthesized, characterized, and studied regarding their photophysical properties. Materials with high crystallinity and surface area are obtained from a reproducible synthetic procedure that involves the use of two fluorinated modulators. At the same time, these new RE-MOFs display tunable photoluminescent properties due to efficient linker-to-metal energy transfer promoted by the antenna effect, resulting in a series of RE-MOFs displaying lanthanoid-based emissions spanning the visible and near-infrared regions of the electromagnetic spectrum.