Copper(II) hypophosphite: the alpha- and beta-forms at 270 and 100 K, and the gamma-form at 270 K

Copper(II) hypophosphite has been shown to exist as several polymorphs. The crystal structures of monoclinic alpha-, orthorhombic beta- and orthorhombic gamma-Cu(H(2)PO(2))(2) have been determined at different temperatures. The geometry of the hypophosphite anion in all three polymorphs is very close to the idealized one, with point symmetry mm2. Despite having different space groups, the structures of the alpha- and beta-polymorphs are very similar. The polymeric layers formed by the Cu atoms and the hypophosphite ions, which are identical in the alpha- and beta-polymorphs, stack in the third dimension in different ways. Each hypophosphite anion is coordinated to three Cu atoms. On cooling, a minimum amount of contraction was observed in the direction normal to the layers. The structure of the polymeric layers in the gamma-polymorph is quite different. There are two symmetry-independent hypophosphite anions; the first is coordinated to two Cu atoms, while the second is coordinated to four Cu atoms. In all three polymorphs, the Cu atoms are coordinated by six O atoms of six hypophosphite anions, forming tetragonal bipyramids; in the alpha- and beta-polymorphs, there are four short and two long Cu-O distances, while in the gamma-polymorph, there are four long and two short Cu-O distances.