Synthesis, X-ray powder structure, and magnetic properties of the new, weak ferromagnet iron(II) phenylphosphonate.

A new molecule-based weak ferromagnet of formula Fe[C6H5PO3]·H2O was synthesized. It was characterized by thermogravimetric analysis and UV−visible and infrared spectroscopy, and the magnetic properties were studied using a superconducting quantum interference device magnetometer. The crystal structure of the compound was determined “ab initio” from X-ray powder diffraction data and refined by the Rietveld method. The crystals of Fe[C6H5PO3]·H2O are orthorhombic, space group Pmn21, with a = 5.668(8) A, b = 14.453(2) A, c = 4.893(7) A, and Z = 2. The title compound is isostructural with the previously reported lamellar M[C6H5PO3]·H2O, M = Mn(II), Zn(II), and Cd(II). The inorganic layers are made of Fe(II) ions octahedrally coordinated by five phosphonate oxygen atoms and one from oxygen of the water molecule. These layers are then separated by bilayers of the phenyl groups, and van der Waals contacts are established between them. The refinement has shown that the phenyl rings are disordered in the lattice....