Hydrothermal Synthesis of Chiral Metal(II) Phosphinates Derived from Camphor

The diastereoselective synthesis of bis(3-endo-camphoryl)phosphinic acid (1) and its 2-bornen-2-yl ester 2 from the reaction of lithium camphor enolate with phosphorus trichloride and the hydrothermal synthesis of three chiral molecular metal(II) phosphinates of the type M(O 2 PR 2 ) 2 .2R 2 P(O)OH [M = Co (3); Ni (4); Pb (5); R = 3-endo-camphoryl] from the reaction of 1 with metal(II) acetates or nitrates is described. The molecular structures of 1-5 are reported. © 2009 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA.