Supramolecular Hydrogen‐Bonded Frameworks from a New Bisphosphonic Acid and Transition Metal Ions

The reaction of 2‐morpholinoethylimino‐bis(methylenephosphonic acid) (H₄L) with cobalt(II), nickel(II) acetate, and cadmium(II) chloride in ethanol/water mixed solvents afforded three new crystal‐engineered supramolecular metal phosphonates, Co(H₃L)₂ · 2H₂O ( 1 ), Ni(H₃L)₂ · 2H₂O ( 2 ), and Cd₂Cl₄(H₂O)₆]_0.5H₄L] ( 3 ) by using a layering technique. The cobalt(II) ions in complex 1 are hexacoordinated by four phosphonate oxygen atoms and two imino nitrogen atoms. The mononuclear units of complex 1 are connected through hydrogen bonds to form a three dimensional supramolecular network. The structure of compound 2 is analogous to that of 1 except that the cobalt(II) ion in compound 1 is replaced by nickel(II) in compound 2 . In the molecular structure of compound 3 , cadmium is coordinated to three chloride ions and three aqua oxygen atoms to form a novel neutral dinuclear complex. Several hydrogen bonds connect the dinuclear complex and the neutral form of the ligand to build a supramolecular three dimensional structure.