Kristallstrukturen und chemische Bindung von AM2GeSe4 (A = Sr,Ba; M = Cu,Ag)

New Noncentrosymmetric Selenogermanates. I. Crystal Structures and Chemical Bonding of AM ₂GeSe₄ ( A = Sr, Ba; M = Cu, Ag) Three new quaternary selenogermanates were synthesized by heating the elements at 983–1073 K. Their crystal structures were determined by single crystal X‐ray methods. The dark red semiconductors crystallize in noncentrosymmetric space groups. SrCu₂GeSe₄ (Ama2, a = 10.807(4) Å, b = 10.735(4) Å, c = 6.541(2) Å, Z = 4) forms a new structure type, whereas BaCu₂GeSe₄ (P3₁, a = 6.490(1) Å, c = 16.355(3) Å, Z = 3) and BaAg₂GeSe₄ (I222, a = 7.058(1) Å, b = 7.263(1) Å, c = 8.253(2) Å, Z = 2) crystallize in structures known from thiostannates. Main structural features are almost regular GeSe₄‐, but distorted CuSe₄‐ or AgSe₄‐tetrahedra sharing corners or edges. Eight selenium atoms coordinate the alkaline earth atoms in the voids of these three dimensional tetrahedral networks. Chemical bonding and the electronic structure are elucidated by self‐consistent band structure calculations and the COHP method. The electron density and the electron localization function ELF of SrCu₂GeSe₄ reveal a significant stronger covalent character for the Ge–Se bonds compared with the Cu–Se bonds. For this reason the GeSe₄ tetrahedra appear as quasi molecular entities, arranged spatially according to the motifs of closest packing. The metal atoms occupy the tetrahedral and octahedral voids of these “tetrahedra packing”. This concept allows to derive the structures of AM₂GeSe₄‐compounds from simple binary structure types as Li₃Bi or Ni₂In.