Novel optically active 2D materials based on λ-zirconium phosphate and chiral monocarboxylic acids: Synthesis and characterization

Five novel chiral 2D materials with general formula lambda-ZrPO4(OH)(1-x)(RCOO)(x)(dmso) have been prepared by covalent anchoring of five different chiral carboxylic acids to the sheets of lambda-zirconium phosphate (lambda-ZrP), namely (S)-(+)-Mandelic acid (MAN), (R)-(-)-alpha-Methoxyphenylacetic acid (MPA), (S)-(+)-Ibuprofen (IBU), (S)-(+)-6-Methoxy-alpha-methyl-2-naphthaleneacetic acid (MMN) and (-)-Menthyloxyacetic acid (MEN). The synthesized materials were characterized by X-ray diffractometry, FT-IR spectrophotometry, elemental and thermogravimetric analyses and polarimetry. The X-ray diffraction patterns revealed that the interlayer separations increase from 1.02 nm (pure lambda-ZrP) to 1.31-2.31 nm as a result of the incorporation of the mentioned acids within the interlayer gallery. The polarimetry measurements showed that the synthesized materials have appreciable optical activities suggesting they could have protentional applications in the field of chiral separation techniques.