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We report the solvothermal synthesis of a dansyl anchored hafnium based fluorescent metal–organic framework (MOF) having the formula [Hf6O4(OH)4(L)6]·H2O·6DMF (H2L = 2-((5-(dimethylamino)naphthalene)-1-sulfonamido)terephthalic acid). The synthesized material showed high fluorescence emission properties as well as high thermal (stable up to 330 °C) and chemical stability. It also exhibited a wide range of pH tolerance as well as a high BET surface area of 703 m2 g−1. The activated MOF showed ultra-fast (detection time < 10 s) and ultra-sensitive sensing properties towards Cu(II) and the biologically important biomarker 3-nitrotyrosine (3-NTyr) in a HEPES medium at a physiological pH of 7.4. Along with high selectivity, very low detection limits of 229 nM and 539 nM were obtained for Cu(II) and 3-NTyr respectively. Furthermore, this probe was utilised for the detection and quantification of Cu(II) and 3-NTyr in biosamples (urine and serum) with very low RSD values (2.3–4.8%). Additionally, this probe was employed to detect the presence of Cu(II) as a pollutant in various environmental water samples. Furthermore, for rapid economic detection of Cu(II), a MOF coated fluorescent paper strip was demonstrated. Thorough mechanistic investigations displayed that a complexometric interaction between Cu(II) and the probe is the main reason for the quenching of fluorescence intensity. This proposed mechanism was well supported by experimental evidence. On the other hand, the FRET mechanism is proposed based on the experimental observations for dynamic quenching of the fluorescence intensity of the probe in the presence of 3-NTyr. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]