Metal-organic frameworks: synthetic strategies, stability studies, and luminescence applications for environmental and food safety monitoring.

Metal-organic frameworks have emerged as a highly versatile class of crystalline porous materials demonstrating exceptional potential as luminescent sensors for monitoring environmental and food safety contaminants. This review explores various synthetic strategies of MOF fabrication, from conventional solvothermal and hydrothermal routes to advanced green alternatives, such as microwave-assisted, sonochemical, mechanochemical, ionothermal and microfluidic synthesis. Despite their outstanding analytical sensitivity, transitioning these platforms to field-deployable commercial devices faces major technical limitations. Primary challenges include hydrolytic degradation under humid conditions or extreme pH environments, and framework collapse due to thermal or mechanical stress. To overcome these challenges, we discuss optimization strategies designed to enhance the chemical, thermal, and mechanical stability of MOFs. Furthermore, recent progress in engineering MOFs as fluorescent probes for the trace-level detection of environmental pollutants (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), toxic heavy metals and agricultural pesticides) and food contaminants (mycotoxins and prohibited additives) is summarized. Ultimately, these advancements are expected to bridge the gap between academic research and practical deployment in real-world monitoring applications.