Structures and Properties of NbOF3 and TaOF3 — with a Remark to the O/F Ordering in the SnF4 Type Structure

Powder samples of NbOF₃ und TaOF₃ were prepared by heating mixtures of NbO₂F and NbF₅ or TaO₂F and TaF₅, respectively, in the corresponding stoichiometric ratio in platinum crucibles under argon atmosphere (180—220 °C). Both oxide fluorides are coulourless with a slight greyish tinge. They are sensitive to moisture and decompose in air at room temperature within hours. Both, NbOF₃ and TaOF₃ crystallize as a variant of the SnF₄ type structure, space group I4/mmm. The structures have been refined from X‐ray powder diffraction data using the Rietveld method (a = 3.9675(1) Å, c = 8.4033(1) Å, R_B = 3.60 %, R_p = 4.58 % for NbOF₃ and a = 3.9448(1) Å, c = 8.4860(1) Å, R_B = 2.07 %, R_p = 2.44 % for TaOF₃). Characteristic building units are sheets of corner sharing MX₆ octahedra which are stacked via van der Waals interactions to a three dimensional framework. The occupancy of the two crystallographic sites for the anions by O and F is discussed on the basis of structure refinements, bond order summations, IR and NMR data and calculations of the Madelung parts of the lattice energy.