P-O-B(3) linkages in borophosphate glasses evidenced by high field (11)B/(31)P correlation NMR.

The long-standing debate about the presence of P-O-B(3) linkages in glasses has been solved by high-field scalar correlation NMR. Previously suggested by dipolar NMR methods, the presence of such species has been definitively demonstrated by (11)B((31)P) J-HMQC NMR techniques. The results indicate that borophosphate networks contain P-O-B(3) bonds and thus present a higher degree of atomic homogeneity than previously thought.