Hydrothermal synthesis and structure of a new helical chain constructed from only molybdenum-oxide building blocks.

The compound [NH(3)(CH(2))(2)NH(2)(CH(2))(2)NH(3)](2)[Mo(9)O(30)] was synthesized at 170 degrees C via hydrothermal techniques from the starting materials of Na(2)MoO(4).H(2)O, NH(2)(CH(2))(2)NH(CH(3))(2)NH(2), and H(2)O. The compound crystallizes in the space group C2/c of the monoclinic system with a = 21.308(4) A, b = 9.234(2) A, c = 19.195(4) A, beta = 120.27(3) degrees, V = 3261.9(11)A(3), Z = 4. Two novel and symmetrically related helices coexist in the centrosymmetric solid, in which the two kinds of helices appear in the left-handed and right-handed enantiomorphs, respectively. This is the first example of a helical chain structure consisting of only molybdenum-oxide building blocks. The central axis about each helical chain is a 2-fold screw axis.