Sr,Ba and Cd arsenates with the apatite‐type structure

X‐ray diffraction analysis of single crystals of three new arsenates adopting apatite‐type structures yielded formula Sr₅(AsO₄)₃F for strontium arsenate fluoride, (I), (Sr_1.66Ba_0.34)(Ba_2.61Sr_0.39)(AsO₄)₃Cl for strontium barium arsenate chloride, (II), and Cd₅(AsO₄)₃Cl_0.58(OH)_0.42 for cadmium arsenate hydroxide chloride, (III). All three structures are built up of isolated slightly distorted AsO₄ tetrahedra that are bridged by Sr²⁺ in (I), by Sr²⁺/Ba²⁺ in (II) and by Cd²⁺ in (III). Compounds (I) and (II) represent typical fluorapatites and chlorapatites, respectively, with F⁻ at the 2a (0, 0, ) site and Cl⁻ at the 2b (0, 0, 0) site of P6₃/m. In contrast, in (III), due to the requirement that the smaller Cd²⁺ cation is positioned closer to the channel Cl⁻ anion (partially substituted by OH⁻), the anion occupies the unusual 2a (0, 0, ) site. Therefore, Cl⁻ is similar to F⁻ in (I), coordinated by three A2 cations, unlike the octahedrally coordinated Cl⁻ in (II) and other ordinary chlorapatites. Furthermore, in (III), using FT–IR studies, we have inferred the existence of H⁺ outside the channel in oxyhydroxyapatites and provided possible atomic coordinates for a H atom in HAsO₄²⁻, leading to a proposed formulation of the compound as Cd₅(AsO₄)_3−x(HAsO₄)_xCl_0.58(OH)_{0.42−x−(y/2)}O_x+(y/2)□_y/2.