Crystal Structures of Two New Holmium Polysulfides in the Series of Rare-Earth Polychalcogenides

The crystal structures of two polysulfide phases HoS_1.885(5) (I) and HoS_1.863(8) (II) were determined; the integer stoichiometric ratio was found to be Ho₈S₁₅. The data were collected on an Enraf-Nonius CAD-4 automatic diffractometer using the standard procedure (MoK, graphite monochromator, an absorption correction applied based on -scan data). Crystal I: space group P4/nmm, a = 3.820(1), c = 7.840(3) , V = 114.40(6) ³, Z = 2 for the composition HoS_1.885(5), d _calc = 6.542 g/cm³, R = 0.0520 for 184 unique reflections with I_hkl > 2 _I; crystal II: space group P2₁/m, a = 10.961(2), b = 11.465(2), c = 10.984(2) , = 91.27(3)°, V = 1380.0(4) ³, Z = 24 for the composition HoS_1.863(8), d _calc = 6.486 g/cm³, R = 0.0596 for 5354 unique reflections with I_hkl > 2 _I. In both compounds, the Ho atoms are surrounded by 9 (8+1 for three atoms in II) S atoms forming monocapped square antiprisms. The Ho–S distances vary from 2.717 to 3.067 irrespective of the type of ion S^2– or (S₂)^2–]; the maximal distance to the atoms completing the coordination is 3.684 . The compounds have PbFCl type structures composed of ...(S₂)^2–...Ho³⁺...S^2–...S^2–...Ho³⁺...(S₂)^2–... layer packets differently oriented in space relative to the unit cell axes. The S^2–...S^2– and S^2–...(S₂)^2– interlayer distances are mostly shorter than the sum of the ionic radii and vary within the limits of 3.331-3.558 and 3.029-3.784 for the first and second types, respectively. For I, the calculated site occupancies and densities are given depending on the composition Ho-S_2-x (x = 0.25-0); for II, the most probable formulas of rational compositions in the same range of x are presented.