Matrix-isolation studies on alkali-metal phosphates. Part 1. The characterisation of molecular NaPO3

Abstract

This paper describes the results of a matrix-isolation i.r. study on the vaporisation of trisodium orthophosphate. When this material is heated in vacuo to ca. 1 600 K, and the products condensed in a low-temperature argon matrix, the i.r. spectrum obtained is shown to be due to a trapped species NaPO₃. With the aid of ¹⁸O-enrichment, this molecule is shown to have a C_2v, bidentate structure with characteristic i.r. bands at 1 341.7, 1 211.2, 1 004.0, 536.6, 474.0, and 287.0 cm^–1.