Source of material (Dimethylphosphoryl)methanamine (dpma) is easily available by a literature known synthesis [1,2]. In a typical reaction 0.3 g dpma was dissolved in 2 ml concentrated hydrobromic acid. Evaporation at room temperature yielded colourless crystals of (dpmaH) 2 (H 3 O)Br 3 .
Experimental detailsAll hydrogen atoms were identified in difference Fourier synthesis. The methyl groups and the NH 3 groups were idealized and refined using rigid groups allowed to rotate about the P-C bond (AFIX 137 option of the SHELXL-2013 program [13]). The coordinates of the H-atoms at the oxonium ions were refined with the O-H distance restrained to 0.9 Å. The U iso values of the hydrogen atoms of methyl groups were set to 1.5U eq (C) and the U iso values of all other hydrogen atons were set to 1.2U eq (C, N). To get usable intensities for the mass of weak superstructure reflections the exposure time had to be extended, accepting the overexposure of some very strong reflections.
DiscussionIt has been shown, that the dpmaH + cation is an excellent tecton for the construction of hydrogen bonded, one-dimensional structures [3][4][5][6]. Pseudosymmetry is a ubiquitous problem during the course of many crystal structure determinations [7]. A typical problem is the appearance of additional and weak superstructure reflections which necessiate a larger super lattice for a correct description of the true structure [8]. In more difficult cases the difference between the true symmetry and the pseudosymmetry is expressed by slightly modified intensities of reflections. In such cases additional methods should be applied (spectroscopy, optical methods, thermal analysis, etc.) [9]. It is obvious that some classes of compound are predestined for this effect. This contribution is part of our ongoing interest in the hydrogen bonding of phosphinic acids and its derivatives [10] and on the phenomenon of pseudosymmetry. The asymmetric unit of the title structure consists of four dpmaH + cations, two H 3 O + (oxonium) cations and six bromide anions. The pseudosymmetry in the title structure is caused by the fact that the bromide anions, the oxonium cations and the Me 2 PO-CH 2 -fragment of the dpmaH + cations alternatively can be described, using a halved unit cell (c' = 0.5c; P1). Accordingly, the average intensity of reflections with l = 2n+1 are much weaker than those with l = 2n. To analyze the differences within the roughly identical parts of the structure a comparative refinement of a structural model using the halved unit cell has been undertaken. This refinement yielded R-values similar to those of the true structure, which is not surprising, as the model refers to the stronger reflections. Extremely elongated ellipsoids of the bromide anions and the disorder of the aminium groups reflect the structural pseudosymmetry. In the true (super) structure all four crystallographic independent dpmaH + cations show individual O-P-C-N torsion angles (O1-P1-C3-N1 = -116.9(4)°; O2-P2-C6-N2 = 47.3(4)°; O3-P3-C9-N3 = -68.6(4)°; O4-P4-C12-N4 = 123....