A novel Zn(II) coordination polymer of N-nicotinyl phosphoric triamide ligand, {[Zn(L)(2)(H2O)(2)]center dot(NO3)(2)}(n) C1 (L = 3-NC5H4C(O)NHP(O)(NC6H12)(2)), has been synthesized and characterized by IR and H-1, C-13, P-31 NMR spectroscopy. Crystal structure analysis of C1 demonstrates a distorted octahedral geometry for Zn(II) ions. The oxygen atom of phosphoryl group (O-phosphoryl) and the nitrogen atom of pyridine ring (N-pyridine) of ligand take part in coordination to Zn(II) centers in a bidentate bridging mode. This coordination pattern results in infinite 1D polymeric chains along c axis, which are composed of metal shared 16-membered puckered rings. Structural data show that despite binding through O-phosphoryl, the P=O bond distance unexpectedly shortens in C1 when compared to that of the ligand, conceivably due to the steric factors in the solid state. This is confirmed by comparing the structural and electronic properties of C1 and L in the gas phase by using density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Natural bond orbital (NBO) analysis reveals the metal-ligand interaction for C1 as donor-acceptor type delocalizations (charge transfer). Besides, on the basis of the quantum theory of atoms in molecules (QTAIM) analysis, the nature of Zn-O and Zn-N bondings is found to be mainly electrostatic with a small amount of covalent character. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.