Two d¹⁰ metal coordination polymers as dual functional luminescent probes for sensing of Fe³⁺ ions and acetylacetone with high selectivity and sensitivity

Two new ternary coordination polymers (CPs), [Zn-2(L)(DCTP)(1.5)(OH)](n) (1) and {[Cd(L)(TBTA)]center dot H2O}(n) (2) (L = 1,3-bis(5,6-methylbenzimidazol-1-yl)propane, H2DCTP = 2,5-dichloroterephthalic acid, H(2)TBTA = tetrabromoterephthalic acid) were synthesized under hydrothermal conditions. 1 displays a square-lattice (sql) network formed by tetranuclear [Zn-4(L)(2)(DCTP)(6/2)(H2O)(2)] complex groups, while in 2 the sql network is assembled from mononuclear complexes, both CPs are further extended into a 3D supramolecular framework by pi-pi stacking interactions. 1 and 2 exhibit promising photocatalytic activity toward the degradation of methylene blue (MB) under UV irradiation. Furthermore, 1 and 2 can be as efficient probes for detection of acetylacetone (acac) and Fe3+ ions based on luminescence quenching.