EDTMP or ethylenediamine tetra(methylene phosphonic acid) is a phosphonic acid. It has

chelating Chelation is a type of bonding of ions and molecules to metal ions. It involves the formation or presence of two or more separate coordinate bonds between a polydentate (multiple bonded) ligand and a single central metal atom. These ligands are ...

and anti corrosion properties. EDTMP is the phosphonate analog of

EDTA Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) is an aminopolycarboxylic acid with the formula H2N(CH2CO2H)2sub>2. This white, water-soluble solid is widely used to bind to iron (Fe2+/Fe3+) and calcium ions (Ca2+), forming water-soluble complexes ev ...

.Svara, J.; Weferling, N.; Hofmann, T. "Phosphorus Compounds, Organic," In 'Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry, Wiley-VCH, Weinheim, 2008. {{doi, 10.1002/14356007.a19_545.pub2. It is classified as a nitrogenous organic polyphosphonic acid.

Properties and applications

EDTMP is normally delivered as its sodium salt, which exhibits good solubility in water. Used in

Water treatment Water treatment is any process that improves the quality of water to make it appropriate for a specific end-use. The end use may be drinking, industrial water supply, irrigation, river flow maintenance, water recreation or many other uses, inclu ...

as an anti scaling and anti corrosion agent, the corrosion inhibition of EDTMP is 3–5 times better than that of inorganic

polyphosphate Polyphosphates are salts or esters of polymeric oxyanions formed from tetrahedral PO4 (phosphate) structural units linked together by sharing oxygen atoms. Polyphosphates can adopt linear or a cyclic ring structures. In biology, the polyphosphate e ...

. It has good chemical stability and thermal tolerance. It shows excellent scale inhibition ability under temperature 200 °C. It functions by chelating with many metal ions. The anti-cancer drug Samarium (¹⁵³Sm) lexidronam is also derived from EDTMP.

References

Phosphonic acids Chelating agents Tertiary amines Ethyleneamines Corrosion inhibitors Water treatment Hexadentate ligands