In situ deca-rbonylation of N,N-di-methyl-formamide to form di-methyl-ammonium cations in the hybrid framework compound {[(CH3)2NH2]2[Zn{O3PC6H2(OH)2PO3}]} n.

The title phospho-nate-based organic-inorganic hybrid framework, poly[bis(dimethylammonium) [(µ4-2,5-dihydroxybenzene-1,4-diphosphonato)zinc(II)]], {(C2H8N)2[Zn(C6H4O8P2)]} n , was formed unexpectedly when di-methyl-ammonium cations were formed from the in situ deca-rbonylation of the N,N-di-methyl-formamide solvent. The framework is built up from ZnO4 tetra-hedra and bridging di-phospho-nate tetra-anions to generate a three-dimensional network comprising [100] channels occupied by the (CH3)2NH2 + cations. Within the channels, an array of N-H⋯O hydrogen bonds help to establish the structure. In addition, intra-molecular O-H⋯O hydrogen bonds between the appended -OH groups of the phenyl ring and adjacent PO3 2- groups are observed.