Abstract: | The yet unknown intermetallic phase La5Al3Ni2 was obtained by partially crystallizing amorphous La50Al25Ni25 at 550 K (further heating above 600 K leads to irreversible disappearance of this phase), and its crystal structure was determined from X‐ray powder diffraction data. The crystal structure of the La5Al3Ni2 phase constitutes a new structure type (Cmcm, a = 14.231Å, b = 6.914Å, c = 10.460Å, oC40) and is built from Al3Ni2] chains surrounded by La atoms. In the ternary system La‐Al‐Ni La5Al3Ni2 is located on the section La50Al50−nNin (0 ≤ n ≤ 50) with the binary compounds LaAl and LaNi as end members. Strikingly, also the crystal structures of the end members can be conceived as chain structures with Al and Ni chains surrounded by La, respectively. |