Abstract. High product yield of highly crystalline layered MxV3O8 compounds was obtained under hydrothermal conditions from the V2O5-Zn(OAc)22H2O-alkali metal salt-H2O system at significantly lower reaction temperature than previously reported in neutral media for x = 1 and M = K + , Rb + , and Cs + , and in basic media for x = 2 and M = K + . Unreacted Zn(OAc)2 may act as a catalyst and/or HOAc/OAc -acts as a buffer in obtaining monopotassium salts while enMe used to adjust pH can also act as a reducing agent in producing the dipotassium salt. A new layered dipotassium zinc pyrovanadate compound, K2ZnV2O7, was formed when twice the stoichiometric ratio of the zinc salt was used. Single crystal X-ray diffraction shows the zinc compound to crystallize in the tetragonal space group P42/mnm (No. 136) with a = 8.3478(16) Å, c = 11.297(3) Å, V = 787.2(3) Å 3 , and thus to be isomorphous with K2MgV2O7. The pentagonal-motif layer structure of K2ZnV2O7 is similar to that of K2(VO)V2O7, but the unit cell parameters differ with approximate doubling of the c axial length when replacing the square-pyramidal VO5 units of the [(V 4+ O)(V 5+ 2O7)]n 2n-layer with distorted ZnO4 tetrahedra.