Calcium hydroxyapatite (CaHAp) was prepared in the presence of two alkylphosphonates, the tert-butyl phosphonic acid TBPOH and the 2-carboxyletylphosphonic acid 2-CEPA, by hydrothermal method at 120 degrees C for 15 h. The modification of hydroxyapatite by grafting organic moieties is confirmed by IR and NMR MAS (H-1 and P-31) spectroscopy and chemical analysis. X-ray powder diffraction patterns show that the incorporation of organic moieties induces a significant loss of the material crystallinity and a clear increase of the unit cell lattice parameter a as function of 2-CEPA grafting rate. The specific surface area (SSA) increases with increasing phosphonate amount especially for 2-CEPA. All techniques show the lower reactivity of TBPOH due to the steric effects of tert-butyl, whereas the 2-CEPA with a linear chain and double acidic functions is more reactive and can replace the OH- groups of the apatitic structure. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.