High-Pressure Synthesis of Sc5P12N23O3 and Ti5P12N24O2 by Activation of the Binary Nitrides ScN and TiN with NH4F

Multinary transition metal nitrides and oxonitrides are a versatile and intriguing class of compounds. However, they have been investigated far less than pure oxides. The compounds Sc₅P₁₂N₂₃O₃ and Ti₅P₁₂N₂₄O₂ have now been synthesized from the binary nitrides ScN and TiN, respectively, by following a high-pressure high-temperature approach at 8 GPa and 1400 °C. NH₄F acts as a mineralizing agent that supports product formation and crystallization. The starting materials ScN and TiN are seemingly an uncommon choice because of their chemical inertness but, nevertheless, react under these conditions. Sc₅P₁₂N₂₃O₃ and Ti₅P₁₂N₂₄O₂ crystallize isotypically with Ti₅B₁₂O₂₆, consisting of solely vertex-sharing P(O/N)₄ tetrahedra forming two independent interpenetrating diamond-like nets that host TM(O/N)₆ (TM=Sc, Ti) octahedra. Ti₅P₁₂N₂₄O₂ is a mixed-valence compound and shows ordering of Ti³⁺ and Ti⁴⁺ ions.     

Direct Synthesis of Chromium Perovskite Oxyhydride with a High Magnetic‐Transition Temperature

We report a novel oxyhydride SrCrO₂H directly synthesized by a high‐pressure high‐temperature method. Powder neutron and synchrotron X‐ray diffraction revealed that this compound adopts the ideal cubic perovskite structure with O^2?/H^? disorder. Surprisingly, despite the non‐bonding nature between Cr 3d t_2g orbitals and the H 1s orbital, it exhibits G‐type spin ordering at T_N≈380 K, which is higher than that of RCrO₃ (R=rare earth) and any chromium oxides. The enhanced T_N in SrCrO₂H with four Cr‐O‐Cr bonds in comparison with RCr³⁺O₃ with six Cr‐O‐Cr bonds is reasonably explained by the tolerance factor. The present result offers an effective strategy to tune octahedral tilting in perovskites and to improve physical and chemical properties through mixed anion chemistry.     

Large Magnetization and Frustration Switching of Magnetoresistance in the Double‐Perovskite Ferrimagnet Mn2FeReO6

Ferrimagnetic A₂BB′O₆ double perovskites, such as Sr₂FeMoO₆, are important spin‐polarized conductors. Introducing transition metals at the A‐sites offers new possibilities to increase magnetization and tune magnetoresistance. Herein we report a ferrimagnetic double perovskite, Mn₂FeReO₆, synthesized at high pressure which has a high Curie temperature of 520 K and magnetizations of up to 5.0 μ_B which greatly exceed those for other double perovskite ferrimagnets. A novel switching transition is discovered at 75 K where magnetoresistance changes from conventional negative tunneling behavior to large positive values, up to 265 % at 7 T and 20 K. Neutron diffraction shows that the switch is driven by magnetic frustration from antiferromagnetic Mn²⁺ spin ordering which cants Fe³⁺ and Re⁵⁺ spins and reduces spin‐polarization. Ferrimagnetic double perovskites based on A‐site Mn²⁺ thus offer new opportunities to enhance magnetization and control magnetoresistance in spintronic materials.     

MH4P6N12 (M=Mg,Ca): New Imidonitridophosphates with an Unprecedented Layered Network Structure Type

Isotypic imidonitridophosphates MH₄P₆N₁₂ (M=Mg, Ca) have been synthesized by high‐pressure/high‐temperature reactions at 8 GPa and 1000 °C starting from stoichiometric amounts of the respective alkaline‐earth metal nitrides, P₃N₅, and amorphous HPN₂. Both compounds form colorless transparent platelet crystals. The crystal structures have been solved and refined from single‐crystal X‐ray diffraction data. Rietveld refinement confirmed the accuracy of the structure determination. In order to quantify the amounts of H atoms in the respective compounds, quantitative solid‐state ¹H NMR measurements were carried out. EDX spectroscopy confirmed the chemical compositions. FTIR spectra confirmed the presence of NH groups in both structures. The crystal structures reveal an unprecedented layered tetrahedral arrangement, built up from all‐side vertex‐sharing PN₄ tetrahedra with condensed dreier and sechser rings. The resulting layers are separated by metal atoms.     

Coordination Chemistry of P4S3 and P4Se3 towards the Iron Fragments [Fe(Cp)(CO)2]+ and [Fe(Cp)(PPh3)(CO)]+

The complexes Ag(L)_n[WCA] (L=P₄S₃, P₄Se₃, As₄S₃, and As₄S₄; [WCA]=[Al(OR^F)₄]⁻ and [F{Al(OR^F)₃}₂]⁻; R^F=C(CF₃)₃; WCA=weakly coordinating anion) were tested for their performance as ligand-transfer reagents to transfer the poorly soluble nortricyclane cages P₄S₃, P₄Se₃, and As₄S₃ as well as realgar As₄S₄ to different transition-metal fragments. As₄S₄ and As₄S₃ with the poorest solubility did not yield complexes. However, the more soluble silver-coordinated P₄S₃ and P₄Se₃ cages were transferred to the electron-poor Fp⁺ moiety ([CpFe(CO)₂]⁺). Thus, reaction of the silver salt in the presence of the ligand with Fp−Br yielded [Fp−P₄S₃][Al(OR^F)₄] ( 1 a ), [Fp−P₄S₃][F(Al(OR^F)₃)₂] ( 1 b ), and [Fp−P₄Se₃][Al(OR^F)₄] ( 2 ). Reactions with P₄S₃ also yielded [FpPPh₃−P₄S₃][Al(OR^F)₄] ( 3 ), a complex with the more electron-rich monophosphine-substituted Fp⁺ analogue [FpPPh₃]⁺ ([CpFe(PPh₃)(CO)]⁺). All complex salts were characterized by single-crystal XRD, NMR, Raman, and IR spectroscopy. Interestingly, they show characteristic blueshifts of the vibrational modes of the cage, as well as structural contractions of the cages upon coordination to the Fp/FpPPh₃ moieties, which oppose the typically observed cage expansions that lead to redshifts in the spectra. Structure, bonding, and thermodynamics were investigated by DFT calculations, which support the observed cage contractions. Its reason is assigned to σ and π donation from the slightly P−P and P−E antibonding P₄E₃-cage HOMO (e symmetry) to the metal acceptor fragment.     

Size‐Selective Encapsulation of Hydrophobic Guests by Self‐Assembled M4L6 Cobalt and Nickel Cages

Subtle differences in metal–ligand bond lengths between a series of [M₄L₆]^4? tetrahedral cages, where M=Fe^II, Co^II, or Ni^II, were observed to result in substantial differences in affinity for hydrophobic guests in water. Changing the metal ion from iron(II) to cobalt(II) or nickel(II) increases the size of the interior cavity of the cage and allows encapsulation of larger guest molecules. NMR spectroscopy was used to study the recognition properties of the iron(II) and cobalt(II) cages towards small hydrophobic guests in water, and single‐crystal X‐ray diffraction was used to study the solid‐state complexes of the iron(II) and nickel(II) cages.     

Piezochromism in Nickel Salicylaldoximato Complexes: Tuning Crystal‐Field Splitting with High Pressure

The crystal structures of bis(3‐fluoro‐salicylaldoximato)nickel(II) and bis(3‐methoxy‐salicylaldoximato)nickel(II) have been determined at room temperature between ambient pressure and approximately 6 GPa. The principal effect of pressure is to reduce intermolecular contact distances. In the fluoro system molecules are stacked, and the Ni???Ni distance decreases from 3.19 Å at ambient pressure to 2.82 Å at 5.4 GPa. These data are similar to those observed in bis(dimethylglyoximato)nickel(II) over a similar pressure range, though contrary to that system, and in spite of their structural similarity, the salicyloximato does not become conducting at high pressure. Ni–ligand distances also shorten, on average by 0.017 and 0.011 Å for the fluoro and methoxy complexes, respectively. Bond compression is small if the bond in question is directed towards an interstitial void. A band at 620 nm, which occurs in the visible spectrum of each derivative, can be assigned to a transition to an antibonding molecular orbital based on the metal 3d(x²?y²) orbital. Time‐dependent density functional theory calculations show that the energy of this orbital is sensitive to pressure, increasing in energy as the Ni–ligand distances are compressed, and consequently increasing the energy of the transition. The resulting blueshift of the UV‐visible band leads to piezochromism, and crystals of both complexes, which are green at ambient pressure, become red at 5 GPa.     

Luminescent Nitridophosphates CaP2N4:Eu2+, SrP2N4:Eu2+, BaP2N4:Eu2+, and BaSr2P6N12:Eu2+

Nitridophosphates MP₂N₄:Eu²⁺ (M=Ca, Sr, Ba) and BaSr₂P₆N₁₂:Eu²⁺ have been synthesized at elevated pressures and 1100–1300 °C starting from the corresponding azides and P₃N₅ with EuCl₂ as dopant. Addition of NH₄Cl as mineralizer allowed for the growth of single crystals. This led to the successful structure elucidation of a highly condensed nitridophosphate from single‐crystal X‐ray diffraction data (CaP₂N₄:Eu²⁺ (P6₃, no. 173), a=16.847(2), c=7.8592(16) Å, V=1931.7(6) ų, Z=24, 2033 observed reflections, 176 refined parameters, wR₂=0.096). Upon excitation by UV light, luminescence due to parity‐allowed 4f⁶(⁷F)5d¹→4f⁷(⁸S_7/2) transition was observed in the orange (CaP₂N₄:Eu²⁺, λ_max=575 nm), green (SrP₂N₄:Eu²⁺, λ_max=529 nm), and blue regions of the visible spectrum (BaSr₂P₆N₁₂:Eu²⁺ and BaP₂N₄:Eu²⁺, λ_max=450 and 460 nm, respectively). Thus, the emission wavelength decreases with increasing ionic radius of the alkaline‐earth ions. The corresponding full width at half maximum values (2240–2460 cm^?1) are comparable to those of other known Eu²⁺‐doped (oxo)nitrides emitting in the same region of the visible spectrum. Following recently described quaternary Ba₃P₅N₁₀Br:Eu²⁺, this investigation represents the first report on the luminescence of Eu²⁺‐doped ternary nitridophosphates. Similarly to nitridosilicates and related oxonitrides, Eu²⁺‐doped nitridophosphates may have the potential to be further developed into efficient light‐emitting diode phosphors.     

Polarization Rotation in the Monoclinic Perovskite BiCo(1-x) Fe(x) O(3)

The monoclinic perovskite BiCo(1-x) Fe(x) O(3) (x≈0.7) undergoes a second-order structural transition from tetragonal to monoclinic, which is accompanied by a rotation of the polarization vector from the [001] to [111] directions of a pseudo cubic cell. The crystal structure, determined by electron diffraction and powder synchrotron X-ray diffraction, was the same as that of Pb(Ti(1-x) Zr(x) )O(3) at the morphotropic phase boundary.     

MnTaO2N: Polar LiNbO3‐type Oxynitride with a Helical Spin Order

The synthesis, structure, and magnetic properties of a polar and magnetic oxynitride MnTaO₂N are reported. High‐pressure synthesis at 6 GPa and 1400 °C allows for the stabilization of a high‐density structure containing middle‐to‐late transition metals. Synchrotron X‐ray and neutron diffraction studies revealed that MnTaO₂N adopts the LiNbO₃‐type structure, with a random distribution of O^2? and N^3? anions. MnTaO₂N with an “orbital‐inactive” Mn²⁺ ion (d⁵; S=5/2) exhibits a nontrivial helical spin order at 25 K with a propagation vector of [0,0,δ] (δ≈0.3), which is different from the conventional G‐type order observed in other orbital‐inactive perovskite oxides and LiNbO₃‐type oxides. This result suggests the presence of strong frustration because of the heavily tilted MnO₄N₂ octahedral network combined with the mixed O^2?/N^3? species that results in a distribution of (super)‐superexchange interactions.