Construction of new zinc(II) coordination polymers by 1-(triazol-1-yl)-2,4, 6-benzenetricarboxylate ligand for sensitizing lanthanide(III) ions and sensing small molecules

Two zinc(II) coordination polymers (CPs), namely, {[Zn 2 (µ 5 -tzbt)(µ-trz)]·3.5H 2 O} n (trz = 1,2,4-triazolate) (1) and {[Zn 2 (µ 5 -tzbt)(µ-OH)(phen)]·4H 2 O} n (phen = 1,10-phenanthroline) (2) have been constructed from 1-(triazol-1-yl)-2,4,6-benzene tricarboxylic acid (H 3 tzbt) under hydrothermal conditions. Single crystal X-ray diffraction analysis reveals that 1 displays 3D framework containing left - handed and right - handed helical chains, whilst 2 is a 2D layered structure. These new CPs both exhibit intensive fluorescence emission at room temperature. Notably, they perform as host for the encapsulation of Ln(III) ions and serve as an antenna to sensitize Tb(III) ions. By encapsulating different Ln(III) ions, both Eu 0.2 Tb 0.8 @1 and Eu 3+ @2 present white-light emission. In addition, 2 exhibits highly luminescent sensing properties for acetone.