Di-tert-butylphosphate Derived Thermolabile Calcium Organophosphates: Precursors for Ca(H2PO4)2, Ca(HPO4), α-/β-Ca(PO3)2, and Nanocrystalline Ca10(PO4)6(OH)2

Thermally and hydrolytically unstable di-tert-butyl phosphate (dtbp-H) has been used as synthon to prepare discrete and polymeric calcium phosphates that are convenient single-source precursors for a range of calcium phosphate ceramic biomaterials. The reactivity of dtbp-H toward two different calcium sources has been found to vary significantly, e.g., the reaction of Ca(OMe)2 with dtbp-H in a 1:6 molar ratio in petroleum ether forms a mononuclear calcium hexa-phosphate complex [Ca(dtbp)2(dtbp-H)4] (1), whereas the change of calcium source to CaH2, in a 1:2 molar ratio under otherwise similar reaction conditions, yields the calcium phosphate polymer, [Ca(μ-dtbp)2(H2O)2·H2O]n(2). Compounds 1 and 2 have been extensively characterized by various spectroscopic and analytical techniques. The solid-state structures of both 1 and 2 have been determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction studies. In discrete molecule 1, the central calcium ion is surrounded by two anionic dtbp and four neutral dtbp-H ligands in an octahedral coordination environment. Compound 2 is a one-dimensional polymer in which adjacent calcium ions are connected through double dtbp bridges. Solid-state thermolysis of bulk 1 in air leads to the exclusive formation of calcium metaphosphate β-Ca(PO3)2 in the entire temperature range of 400-800 °C. Thermal decomposition of polymer 2, however, can be fine-tuned to produce either α-Ca(PO3)2 or β-Ca(PO3)2 depending on the thermolysis conditions employed. Although the sample sintered at 600 °C produces exclusively α-form of Ca(PO3)2, the sample annealed at 800 °C or above produces β-form. Both α- and β-forms can also be successively formed one after other by a slow heating of a freshly prepared 2 on the powder diffractometer sample holder. Additional forms of ceramic phosphates have been prepared by solvothermal conditions because of the highly labile nature of the tert-butoxy groups of dtbp in 1 and 2. Solution decomposition of either 1 or 2 in boiling toluene at 140 °C in a sealed tube produces calcium dihydrogen phosphate [Ca(H2PO4)2·H2O] as the only product in the form of single crystals. Solution thermolysis of 2 in protic solvents such as water and methanol can be biased to produce other calcium phosphate biomaterials such as hydroxyapatite [Ca10(PO4)6(OH)2]and calcium monohydrogen phosphate [Ca(HPO4)] in the presence of additional calcium precursors such as CaO and Ca(OMe)2, respectively.