In situ decarbonylation of N,N-dimethylformamide to form dimethylammonium cations in the hybrid framework compound {[CH3)2NH2]2[Zn{O3PC6H2(OH)2PO3}]}n

The title phosphonate-based organic-inorganic hybrid framework, poly[bis(di-methylammonium) [(mu(4)-2,5-dihydroxybenzene-1,4-diphosphonato)zinc(II)]], {(C-2 H8N)(2)[Zn(C6H4O8P2)](n), was formed unexpectedly when dimethyl-ammonium cations were formed from the in situ decarbonylation of the N,N-dimethylformamide solvent. The framework is built up from ZnO4 tetrahedra and bridging diphosphonate tetra-anions to generate a three-dimensional network comprising [100] channels occupied by the (CH3)(2) NH2+ cations. Within the channels, an array of N-H center dot center dot center dot O hydrogen bonds help to establish the structure. In addition, intramolecular O-H center dot center dot center dot O hydrogen bonds between the appended -OH groups of the phenyl ring and adjacent PO32- groups are observed.