Solvothermal synthesis and structure of a novel 3D zincophosphite |Co(en)3|[Zn4(HPO3)5(H2PO3)] containing helical chains

A new three-dimensional (3D) zincophosphite |Co(en)3| [Zn4(HPO3)5(H2PO3)] (1) has been solvothermally synthesized by using a racemic mixture of a chiral cobaltammine complex Co(en)3Cl3 as the structure-directing agent. Single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis reveals that compound 1 crystallizes in the monoclinic space group P21/c (no. 14) with a=18.6180 (4) Å, b=8.7601(18) Å, c=17.4840(4) Å, β=93.42(3)°, V=2846.4(10) Å3, Z=4 with R1=0.0530. Its structure is built up from strict alternation of ZnO4 tetrahedra and HPO3 pseudo-tetrahedra, giving rise to a 3D inorganic framework with 4-, 6-, 8-, 10- and 12 MRs, and the metal complex molecules, both the Δ and Λ enantiomers, sit in 10-MRs channels. In addition, it is worth noting that left- and right-handed helical chains exist in the framework, which is induced by chiral metal complex Co(en)3Cl3 template molecules. Further characterization of compound 1 has been performed, including X-ray powder diffraction, ICP, CHN, IR and TG analyses.