A New Organic‐Inorganic Hybrid Gallophosphate Prepared in the Presence of Glycine

A new layered gallophosphate, Ga 4 P 4 O 16 (C 2 H 5 NO 2 ) 4 , known as Mu‐32 has been synthesised hydrothermally using the amino acid glycine (H 2 NCH 2 CO 2 H) as an original template. Such a template has never been used before for the synthesis of microporous and phosphate‐based materials such as gallophosphates. The structure was determined by a single‐crystal X‐ray diffraction study and further characterised by scanning electron microscopy, elemental and thermal analyses and by 13 C and 31 P solid‐state NMR spectroscopy. The compound crystallises in the monoclinic space group P 2 1 / c with a = 9.177(2), b = 5.1540(10), c = 12.513(3) Å and β = 90.67(3)°. The inorganic layer is built up from four‐membered rings sharing T−O−T bonds. In addition to the nature of the template, the original properties of this new gallophosphate come from the coordination environment of the Ga which is only pentacoordinated with oxygen atoms and has strong bonds (Ga−O−C) between the organic template and the inorganic sheet. (© Wiley‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, 69451 Weinheim, Germany, 2005)