A new divalent cadmium phosphonate, Cd
2Cl
2(H
2O)
4(H
2L), has been synthesized from the ethylenediamine-
N,
N'-bis(methylenephosphonic acid) (H
4L). The obtained microcrystalline compound has been characterized by solid-state IR spectra and
13C,
31P, and
113Cd CP MAS NMR. The static
13P NMR spectra have been also recorded togive the
11,
22, and
33 chemical shift parameters for both compounds. The spectral data, collected for Cd
2Cl
2(H
2O)
4(H
2L), are in an agreement with its X-ray powder diffraction structure solved with the cell dimensions
a =16.6105(10),
b = 7.1572(4), and
c = 6.8171(4) Å and
= 98.327(4)
. The octahedral coordination sphere of thecadmium atoms consists of two phosphonate oxygen atoms, two water oxygen atoms, and the two chlorine atoms.Cadmium atoms are bridged by the chlorine atoms forming four-membered rings. The phosphorus atoms exhibita tetrahedral coordination with two oxygen atoms bonded to the cadmium atoms with P-O distances of 1.503(10)and 1.504(10) Å. The third oxygen atom, showing a longer P-O distance (1.546(9) Å), is not bonded to the metalcenter, nor is it bonded to a proton. The combined IR and NMR proton-phosphorus cross-polarization kinetic datatogether with the X-ray data confirm that the cadmium phosphonate has the zwitterionic structure (NH
2+CH
2P(O
2Cd
2)O
-)similar to the initial aminophosphonic acid H
4L.