The two anhydrous lithium acetate polymorphs were also compared
Lithium acetate is a very common salt with a wide variety of uses. Despite this, only two compounds are ostensibly known, the anhydrous salt and lithium acetate dihydrate, but only the latter has been truly characterized. In this paper, in addition to the well-known lithium acetate dihydrate, two crystalline forms and three novel hydrates of anhydrous lithium acetate (with lithium acetate/HO ratios of 4:1, 7:3 and 1 :1). The five new compounds are three-dimensional (3D) coordination polymers, as opposed to the one-dimensional (1D) structure of lithium acetate dihydrate. The structure and relative stability of the two anhydrous lithium acetate polymorphs were also compared. Compounds were investigated by single crystal X-ray diffraction (SCXRD), powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and infrared spectroscopy (FTIR).