An unusual highly connected 3D net with hydrophilic pore surface

An unusual highly connected 3D framework, [K2Cd3(OBA)(4)(H2O)(2)(DMF)(2)](H2O)(2) (1) that contains three windows along separate dimensions, has been constructed from a flexible V-shaped ligand 4,4'-oxydibenzoic acid (H(2)OBA) and a infinite linear {K2Cd3(COO)(8)}(n) cluster under solvothermal conditions. Owing to the existence of a polar C-carboxyl-O-core-C-carboxyl moiety in the ligand and the coordinated hydrophilic DMF molecule, a hydrophilic environment is generated at the pore surface. Compound 1 shows high adsorption capacity for polar molecules, such as methanol (7.83%), ethanol (7.13%) and water (13.37%), but exhibits very low uptake capacity for non-polar molecules like methane (0.49%) and cyclohexane (0.68%). Furthermore, its luminescent properties including the quantum yield and lifetime value have also been investigated.