Dilithium manganese(II) catena-tetrakis(polyphosphate), Li(2)Mn(PO(3))(4)

The poly-phosphate Li(2)Mn(PO(3))(4) was synthesized and its structure characterized from powder diffraction data by Averbuch-Pouchot & Durif [J. Appl. Cryst. (1972), 5, 307–308]. These authors showed that the structure of this phosphate is isotypic to that of Li(2)Cd(PO(3))(4), as confirmed by the present work. The structure is built from infinite zigzag polyphosphate chains, [(PO(3))(−)](n), extending along [010]. These polyphosphate chains are connected by sharing vertices with MnO(6) octa­hedra (site symmetry .m.) and Li(2)O(7) polyhedra, which form also chains parallel to [010]. Adjacent chains are linked by common vertices of polyhedra in such a way as to form porous layers parallel to (100). The three-dimensional framework delimits empty channels extending along [010].