Tetrahedrally coordinated lithium(I) and zinc(II) carboxylate-phosphinates based on tetradentate 2-carboxyethyl(phenyl)phosphinate ligand

The reactions of lithium(I) or zinc(II) ion with 2-carboxyethyl(phenyl)phosphinic acid (H2L) afforded two tetrahedrally coordinated metal carboxylate-phosphonites, namely, [Li(HL)] (1) and [Zn(L)] (2), which crystallize in the space groups C2/c and R-3, respectively. Compound 1 shows a double-layer structure while compound 2 features a high-symmetric three-dimensional network. The latter compound has a high thermal stability as well as a strong blue fluorescent emission.