Zn[BPO 4 (OH) 2 ]: A Zinc Borophosphate with the Rare Moganite‐Type Topology

A novel zinc borophosphate Zn[BPO 4 (OH) 2 ] with moganite‐type topology (a rare polymorph of silica) has been prepared from a mixture of ZnO, B 2 O 3 , and P 2 O 5 by hydrothermal treatment at 443 K. The crystal structure was determined from single‐crystal X‐ray data (orthorhombic, Pbcn (no. 60), a =915.07(3), b =897.22(3), c =1059.19(3) pm, V =869.62(5)×10 6  pm 3 , Z =8, R 1=0.028, wR 2=0.075). The crystal structure comprises unbranched vierer ‐single borophosphate chains running along [010] and interconnected via ZnO 2 (OH) 2 ‐tetrahedra by sharing common vertices. The resulting topology of the three‐dimensional tetrahedral framework structure is described by the Schläfli symbol (4 2 .6 2 .8 2 )(4.6 4 .8) 2 . Although showing Zn in a tetrahedral coordination, the title compound does not belong to the group of zincoborophosphates but is a special case of a borophosphate containing vierer single rings of tetrahedra with the sequence Zn‐B‐Zn‐P.