Two 24-nuclear lanthanide clusters, Gd₂₄ and Dy₂₄ were obtained and structurally characterized. Magnetic investigations reveal that Gd₂₄ exhibits the largest entropy change (−ΔS_m) of 46.12 J kg⁻¹ K⁻¹ for ΔH = 7 T in all reported molecular clusters, and single-molecule magnet behaviour is observed in Dy₂₄.

We present one 3D cationic MOF (1-ClO₄), which exhibits high thermal stability and strong alkali resistance. More importantly, it displays fast, selective capture of, and acts as a luminescent probe for, pollutant CrO₄ ²⁻ by anion exchange. Additionally, 1-ClO₄ exhibits interesting slow magnetic relaxation behavior at low temperature.

Cationic heterometal–organic frameworks serve as highly sensitive and highly selective luminescent probes for detecting I ⁻ ions in aqueous solutions.

Two unique 3D coordination polymers based on octahedral [Ln₆] (Ln = Gd (1), Dy (2)) clusters as nodes were synthesized, exhibiting a novel (3,12)-connected topology with the symbol of (4²⁰·6²⁶·8²⁰)(4³)₄. The magnetic studies reveal that 1 shows a −ΔS_m = 46.6 J kg⁻¹ K⁻¹, falling among the largest values known to date, and 2 displays slow magnetic relaxation behavior. Both 1 and 2 have high thermal and solvent stabilities.

Six novel three-dimensional (3D) lanthanide metal–organic frameworks (LnMOFs), {[Ln₂(ispc)₃(H₂O)₃]·mH₂O}_n (Ln = Pr (1, m = 5); Eu (2, m = 5); Gd (3, m = 4); Tb (4, m = 5); Dy (5, m = 5) and Ho (6, m = 4)), ispc = 3-(4-carboxyphenylsulfonyloxy)-4-methoxybenzoic anion) have been synthesized under hydrothermal conditions. Single crystal X-ray diffraction revealed they are isostructural and crystallize in the triclinic crystal system, space group P. The investigations on luminescent properties and lifetimes of 2 (Eu^III), 4 (Tb^III), and 5 (Dy^III) exhibit characteristic emissions of Eu^III, Tb^III and Dy^III ions and the corresponding luminescent lifetimes are 0.14 ms, 9.93 μs and 1.25 ms, respectively. The different luminescent intensities and lifetimes among them were further discussed. Furthermore, magnetic studies of 1–6 reveal that 3–6 exhibit ferromagnetic coupling, and 5 (Dy^III) exhibits remarkably slow magnetic relaxation behavior with the energy barrier ΔE/k_B = 49.2 K.