Clusters and Solid Phases of the Oxovanadium–Phosphate and – Organophosphonate Systems

A major challenge facing the synthetic inorganic chemist is the synthesis of solid materials with specifically designed properties. However, small soluble molecular building blocks with well-defined reaction chemistries which would allow low-temperature assembly into crystalline solid state inorganic materials are not well known. Low temperature strategies which show some promise for the rational design of solids include solvothermal reactions, consensation/hydrolysis, and the introduction of templates or guest molecules for the organization of more complex structures. By exploiting these techniques, the rich structural chemistries of the V/O/PO4 3- and related organically derivatized V/O/RPO3 −2 systems with a variety of organic and inorganic templates have begun to emerge. Several features of this chemistry are outlined.