Three-dimensional sodium phosphinates derived from a bis-functionalized phosphinic acid

The synthesis and crystal structures of two three-dimensional sodium phosphinates are reported. While [Na2{(CH2OH)2PO2}2(H2O)]n (1) is formed from the direct reaction of bis(hydroxylmethyl)phosphinic acid with NaOH, the addition of 1,10-phenanthroline to the above reaction mixture results in the formation of [Na2{(CH2OH)2PO2}2]n (2). The basic structural unit of the 3D polymeric networks in both 1 and 2 is a dimeric Na2L2 moiety. In case of 1, these units are interconnected through coordination via phosphoryl and alcoholic oxygen atoms to eventually result in a three-dimensional network. However in the case of 2, only the phosphoryl oxygen is responsible for gluing the Na2L2 dimeric units into a three-dimensional framework.