Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 February 2011
This paper is a concise review of some recent works which highlights the interest of phosphonate groups RP (O)32- in the field of organic/inorganic hybrid materials, as a general alternative to silicon coupling agents in anchoring of an organic group to an inorganic support or within an inorganic network. Examples, focused on metals of groups 4 and 13, illustrate various synthetic routes, from the hydrothermal synthesis of two- or three-dimensional metal phosphonates, to the introduction of organic moieties into oxide matrices by sol-gel processing, without excluding the grafting of metal oxide surfaces.