In this chapter we present salts composed of amino acids combined with inorganic cations and anions. These salts generally contain amino acids in neutral, i.e., zwitterionic form, with the charges balanced by the cations and anions. However, some of the phases resented here contain cations, anions, and amino acids, but the amino acids are not in neutral form, as, e.g., glycinate À Cu, but for reasons of similarity, they are included in this chapter. The variation of salts (and thus the number of species) is even greater as for salts of amino acids and cations, as a multitude of combinations of amino acids, cations, and anions is possible. Additionally, different hydration states are often found, as well as different ratios of components. Thus, there are several instances of systems containing more than one phase (e.g., the system glycine-zinc-chloride-water). Despite the greater variation, many coordination patterns found in the salts described in the previous chapter recur in the salts reported here. Likewise, the connectivities of units are similar as those found in salts of amino acids and cations. Instances of materials with noteworthy physical properties are presented.
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Introducing RemarksAs stated before, this chapter deals with salts of amino acids and neutral, inorganic salts. In these species, the amino acid usually exists in zwitterionic form, but it is still coordinated to a cation. As other anions are present, the amino acids are not the only possible ligands. These anions can act as additional ligands (plus possible water molecules as well). Moreover, in some cases the inorganic anions are not part of the coordination spheres, but located in the interstices between units composed of cations and coordinating amino acids.M. Fleck and A.M. Petrosyan, Salts of Amino Acids: Crystallization, Structure and Properties,