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Updated: Jan 7, 2026

Author Spotlight: Accelerating Discovery in Microporous Material Chemistry
Published on: October 6, 2023
Solving the P-O/P-OH riddle: direct synthesis and neutron diffraction characterization of dianionic
Michael N Pillay1, Min-Chi Li1, Yu-Rong Ni1
1Department of Chemistry, National Dong Hwa University, No. 1, Sec. 2, Da Hsueh Rd., Hualien 97401, Taiwan. chenwei@gms.ndhu.edu.tw.
None:
We report the first definitive neutron diffraction study aimed at resolving the P-OH/PO structural ambiguity in metal dithiophosphonates. The small NH4 counterion forces a rare syn-configuration via an extended hydrogen-bonding network. Neutron analysis definitively confirmed the fully deprotonated PO moiety, thus confirming the formation of a dianionic dithiophosphonate, a versatile synthon in homoleptic and heteroleptic coordination environments.

