Recent work in the preparation of organically templated metal sulfates under hydrothermal conditions has been extended to include the sulfation of alpha-molybdena through the synthesis of [C5H14N2][(MoO3)(3)(SO4)].H2O. Single crystals were grown under hydrothermal conditions from molybdenum oxide, water, sulfuric acid, and an enantiomerically pure (R)-2-methylpiperazine source and characterized using both single-crystal X-ray diffraction and infrared spectroscopy. One-dimensional [(MoO3)(3)(SO4)](n)(2n-) chains, based on a neutral a-molybdena backbone, are connected through an extensive hydrogen-bonding network containing [C5H14N2](2+) cations and occluded water molecules. The direction of the hydrogen bonding is primarily dictated by the nucleophilicity of the respective oxide ligands, as determined using bond valence sums.