CsTl: A New Example of Tetragonally Compressed Tl(6)(6)(-) Octahedra. Electronic Effects and Packing Requirements in the Diverse Structures of ATl (A = Li, Na, K, Cs)

The cesium-richest phase in the Cs-Tl system, CsTl, can be isolated as a pure crystalline phase through slow cooling of cesium-richer compositions in Ta followed by vacuum sublimation of the excess Cs at approximately 100 degrees C. The compound melts incongruently in the neighborhood of 150 degrees C. The structure was established by single crystal X-ray diffraction at room temperature (orthorhombic Fddd, Z = 48, a = 32.140(3) ?, b = 15.136(1) ?, and c = 9.2400(7) ?. The isolated Tl(6)(6)(-) ions in the structure, tetragonally compressed octahedra, exhibit D(2) symmetry with