LAUSR

Abstract Two Tb(III)-based metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) with different bulky ligands, namely [Tb2(L1)0.5(L1)0.5(L1)0.5(L1)0.5(L1)0.5(L1)0.5(DMA)]n (1) and [Tb(L2)0.5(L2)0.5(L2)0.5(DMF)]n (2) (H2L1 = naphthalene-1,4-dicarboxylic acid, H2L2 = anthracene-9,10-dicarboxylic acid, DMA = N,N-dimethylacetamide and DMF = N,N-dimethylformamide), were solvothermally synthesized and structurally characterized by elemental analyses, IR spectra and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses. Single crystal XRD analyses indicate that the backbones of ligands play an important role in governing the formation of the final frameworks. When compound 1 assumes a 3D (4,4,6)-connected {42·84}{44·62}2{48·66·8}2 topology structure, compound 2 exhibits a 3D NaCl-style 41263 topology network. Both the two compounds display high sensitivities in the detection of acetone (ACE) as fluorescent sensors. Moreover, they also exhibit good photodegradation efficiencies towards rhodamine B (RhB) in aqueous solution under UV irradiation.