K3Cr2(PS4)3: A New Chromium Thiophosphate with a One‐Dimensional [Cr2(PS4)]3— Anion Chain

A new chromium thiophosphate, K₃Cr₂(PS₄)₃ has been prepared and characterized by single‐crystal diffraction, temperature dependent magnetic susceptibility measurements and optical spectroscopy. K₃Cr₂(PS₄)₃ crystallizes in the monoclinic space group P2₁/n (No. 14) with a = 9.731(2) Å, b = 11.986(2) Å, c = 17.727(4) Å, β = 96.52(2)°, V = 2054.2(2) ų, Z = 4, and R = 0.044. The anionic part of the structure consists of dimeric Cr₂(μ₃‐S₃PS)₂ units which are linked by bidentate PS₄ groups to form infinite one‐dimensional [S₂P_S2Cr₂(μ₃S₃P_S)₂]^3— chains separated by K⁺ cations. The Cr^III centers of the Cr₂(μ₃‐S₃PS)₂ units are antiferromagnetically coupled. The magnetic susceptibility data may be fitted using a D‐Heisenberg model for S = 3/2 with g = 2.02 and J/k = 10K. K₃Cr₂(PS₄)₃ is semiconducting with an optical band gap of 1.35 eV.