Growth of single-crystalline sodium titanate and sodium tungstate one-dimensional nanostructures: Bio-inspired approach using oyster shell

Using oyster shell, single-crystalline Na₂Ti₆O₁₃ and Na₂W₄O₁₃ one-dimensional nanostructures (ODNS) were simply synthesized from granular TiO₂ and WO₃ particles by thermal heating at 700 °C. The oyster shell was used as a source of both sodium and carbon dioxide, which have an effect on unidirectional growth of single-crystalline Na₂Ti₆O₁₃ and Na₂W₄O₁₃ from TiO₂ and WO₃. The growth of sodium metal oxide ODNS from metal oxide particles was reproduced by replacing oyster shell with chemical reagents (NaCl, CaCO₃) or gas (CO₂), allowing identification of the main factors for the growth of ODNS. The characteristics of biological material (i.e., oyster shell) lend certain advantages in the fabrication of sodium metal oxide ODNS: (a) low processing temperature with high yield; (b) an eco-friendly method; and (c) no requirement of additional processes such as separation or washing. This work suggests a new approach for using biological material for the crystal growth of nanostructured materials.     

Molecular structures and reactivity of trifluoromethyltris(dialkylamino)phosphonium bromides

Hexa-alkylphosphorus triamides and trifluoromethyl bromide react to give trifluoromethyltris(dialkylamino)phosphonium bromides which were used for the trifluoromethylation of benzaldehyde and copper(I) iodide in the presence of fluoride anions with different counterions; tris(diethylamino)difluorophosphorane proved to be a masked fluoride anion donor. The structures of [CF₃P(NMe₂)₃]⁺Br⁻ and [CF₃P(NEt₂)₃]⁺Br⁻ have been determined by single-crystal X-ray investigations and shown to exhibit a distorted tetrahedral bond configuration with a rather long (F₃)C---P bond of 1.866(9) or 1.896(6) Å, respectively.     

Single crystal X-ray diffraction study of a mixed-valence gold compound, Cs2AuAuCl6 under high pressures up to 18 GPa: Pressure-induced phase transition coupled with gold valence transition

We performed the single-crystal X-ray diffraction study of a perovskite-type gold mixed-valence compound, Cs₂Au^IAu^IIICl₆, under high pressures up to 18 GPa by using a diamond-anvil-cell with helium gas as an ideal hydrostatic pressure-transmitting medium. The lattice parameters and the variable atomic positional parameters were obtained with reasonable accuracy at various pressures. A structural phase transition at ca. 12.5 GPa from I4/mmm to Pm3m was found. The lattice parameters a₀ and c₀, denoted in the tetragonal cell setting, result in the relationship 2^1/2a₀=c₀, and the superstructure reflections h k l (l is odd), caused by the shift of the Cl ions from the midpoint of the Au ions, disappeared at pressures above the phase transition. Both elongated [Au^IIICl₆] and compressed [Au^ICl₆] octahedra in the low-pressure phase smoothly approach regular octahedra with increasing pressure. Above the structural phase transition at 12.5 GPa, all the [AuCl₆] octahedra are crystallographically equivalent, which shows that the tetragonal-to-cubic phase transition accompanies the valence transition from the Au^I/Au^III mixed-valence state to the Au^II single-valence state.     

Lattice vibration spectra Part XCI. Single-crystal Raman and single-crystal neutron diffraction studies on partially deuterated Ca(IO3)2·6H2O; assignment of hydrogen bonds

The crystal structure of Ca(IO₃)₂·6H₂O (Fdd2, Z = 8, a = 1485.9(1) pm, b = 2301.8(2) pm, and c = 639.44(5) pm, R_W = 4.7%) has been refined by single-crystal neutron diffraction studies on the basis of 1150 reflections using the Becker and Coppens formalism for refinement of the extinction parameters. The X-ray structure reported in the literature has been confirmed and the positions of the six crystallographically different hydrogen atoms have been established for the first time. The HO distances of the hydrogen bonds formed are 167.8, 177.8, 180.2, 191.8, 194.8, and 198.0 pm, which correspond to the six uncoupled OD stretching modes (2307, 2378, 2409, 2488, 2516, and 2526 cm⁻¹, 90 K) in the infrared and Raman spectra of isotopically dilute samples. For assignment of the observed bands to the hydrogen positions of the structure we performed single-crystal Raman studies on partially deuterated samples, as proposed in 1984. The limits of this procedure and those of other methods for assigning water bands and the relationship of the strengths of the hydrogen bonds with spectroscopic and structural data, including bond valences and I---OH bond angles, are discussed.     

Crystal structure and thermal behavior of a new cadmium indium oxalate

A new mixed metal oxalate Cd₃In₂(C₂O₄)₆·9H₂O, with an open-framework structure, has been prepared from a precipitation method at room temperature. Its crystal structure has been solved from single-crystal diffraction data. The compound crystallizes with space group P6₄22 and the cell parameters are a=8.566(5)Å, c=37.811(5) Å, V=2403(2) Å³, and Z=3 (R₁=0.036). The three-dimensional structure is built from three types of MO₈ (M=Cd, In) polyhedra, i.e., triangular dodecahedra, bicapped trigonal prisms and an undefined distorted eight-fold cadmium polyhedron. Relationships with the structures of the related cadmium zirconium oxalates are discussed. The structure overview suggests the possibility to conceive new oxalate-based materials with open-framework structures. The thermal behavior of the new compound is described in details from temperature-dependent X-ray powder diffraction and thermogravimetry measurements. The dehydration process of the precursor is reversible in its stability temperature range. The final product consists of a mixture of nanocrystalline CdIn₂O₄ and the simple oxides.     

Metallacarborane chemistry of the hypho-[6,7-C2B6H13] anion: Reaction with nickelocene and the formation of three multimetallic nickel-boron clusters

The reaction of the hypho-[6,7-C₂B₆H₁₃]⁻ anion (1) with nickelocene and an excess of ‘proton sponge’ (1,8-bis-(dimethylamino-naphthalene)) in boiling acetonitrile leads to the formation of a pair of isomeric trimetallic nickel-boron clusters, [6,7,8-(CpNi)₃-1-CB₅H₆] (2) and [6,7,8-(CpNi)₃-2-CB₅H₆] (3), in a combined yield of 55%. Isomer (2) had been previously prepared from nido-2-CB₅H₉ but in much lower yield. Isomer (3) is without precedent and has been characterized using multi-nuclear NMR spectroscopy and mass spectrometry. Isomer (3) undergoes conversion to (2) via heating in boiling toluene. In addition to this isomeric pair, an interesting nido dimetallacarborane of constitution [6,6′-(CpNi)₂-7,7′-C₂B₆H₈] (4) has been isolated from the same reaction in 5% yield and characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis.     

Crystal structures and photocatalysis of the triclinic polymorphs of BiNbO4 and BiTaO4

The high-temperature polymorphs of two photocatalytic materials, BiNbO₄ and BiTaO₄ were synthesized by the ceramic method. The crystal structures of these materials were determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. BiNbO₄ and BiTaO₄ crystallize into the triclinic system P1¯ (No. 2), with a=5.5376(4) Å, b=7.6184(3) Å, c=7.9324(36) Å, α=102.565(3)°, β=90.143(2)°, γ=92.788 (4)°, V=326.21 (5) Å³, Z=4 and a=5.931 (1) Å, b=7.672 (2) Å, c=7.786 (2) Å, α=102.94 (3)°, β=90.04 (3)° γ=93.53 (3)°, V=344.59 (1) Å³ and Z=4, respectively. The structures along the c-axis, consist of layers of [Bi₂O₂] units separated by puckered sheets of (Nb/Ta)O₆ octahedra. Photocatalytic studies on the degradation of dyes indicate selectivity of BiNbO₄ towards aromatics containing quinonic and azo functional groups.     

Synthesis and crystal structure analysis of Sr8Cu3In4N5 and Sr0.53Ba0.47CuN

Single crystals of new quaternary compounds Sr₈Cu₃In₄N₅ and Sr_0.53Ba_0.47CuN were prepared, respectively, from a Sr–Cu–In–Na melt under 7 MPa of N₂ and from a Sr–Ba–Cu–In–Na melt under 0.5 MPa of N₂ by slow cooling from 1023 to 823 K. The crystal structures were determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Sr₈Cu₃In₄N₅ has an orthorhombic structure (space group, Immm, Z=2, a=3.8161(5) Å, b=12.437(2) Å, c=18.902(2) Å), and is isostructural with Ba₈Cu₃In₄N₅. It contains nitridocuprates of isolated units ⁰[CuN₂] and one-dimensional linear chains _∝¹[CuN_2/2] and one-dimensional indium clusters _∝¹[In₂In_2/2]. Sr_0.53Ba_0.47CuN crystallizes in an orthorhombic cell, space group Pbcm, Z=4, a=5.4763(7) Å, b=9.2274(12) Å, c=9.0772(12) Å. The structure contains infinite zig-zag chains _∝¹[CuN_2/2] which kink at every second nitrogen atom.     

Evolution of ( La 1 - y Pr y ) 0.7 Ca 0.3 MnO 3 crystal structure with A-cation size, temperature, and oxygen isotope substitution

The atomic structure of ( La _{1 - y} Pr _y ) _0.7 Ca _0.3 MnO ₃ compound with 0.5≤ y ≤1 has been systematically studied by neutron powder diffraction in the temperature range from 15 to 293 K. For composition with y = 0.75, the structural analysis was performed on two samples, one containing the natural mixture of oxygen isotopes and the other one 75% enriched by ¹⁸ O. The room temperature structural characteristics of the series, including cell volume, average Mn-O bond distance, and average Mn-O-Mn bond angle, are the linear functions of the < r _A >. Temperature dependencies of these parameters are quite smooth, except for the point T = T _FM , where a jump like changes occur. The isotope enriched samples have been found identical in crystal and magnetic structure down to the temperature of transition of the sample with ¹⁶ O into the metallic ferromagnetic phase. It confirms that different transport and magnetic properties of the samples with ¹⁶ O and ¹⁸ O at low temperature are driven by the different oxygen atoms dynamics solely. Temperature dependencies of the CO and AFM diffraction peak intensities and of the peak widths for compositions close to the metal-insulator boundary ( y ≈ 0.75) indicate the macroscopically phase separated AFM-dielectric + FM-metallic state below T _FM . Received 28 April 2000