The Binary Silicides Eu5Si3 and Yb3Si5 – Synthesis,Crystal Structure,and Chemical Bonding

The binary silicides Eu₅Si₃ and Yb₃Si₅ were prepared from the elements in sealed tantalum tubes and their crystal structures were determined from single crystal X-ray data: I4/mcm, a = 791.88(7) pm, c = 1532.2(2) pm, Z = 4, wR2 = 0.0545, 600 F² values, 16 variables for Eu₅Si₃ (Cr₅B₃-type) and P62m, a = 650.8(2) pm, c = 409.2(1) pm, Z = 1, wR2 = 0.0427, 375 F² values, 12 variables for Yb₃Si₅ (Th₃Pd₅ type). The new silicide Eu₅Si₃ contains isolated silicon atoms and silicon pairs with a Si–Si distance of 242.4 pm. This silicide may be described as a Zintl phase with the formula 5 Eu²⁺]¹⁰⁺Si]^4–Si₂]^6–. The silicon atoms in Yb₃Si₅ form a two-dimensional planar network with two-connected and three-connected silicon atoms. According to the Zintl-Klemm concept the formula of homogeneous mixed-valent Yb₃Si₅ may to a first approximation be written as 3 Yb]⁸⁺2 Si^–]^2–3 Si^2–]^6–. Magnetic susceptibility investigations of Eu₅Si₃ show Curie-Weiss behaviour above 100 K with a magnetic moment of 7.85(5) μ_B which is close to the free ion value of 7.94 μ_B for Eu²⁺. Chemical bonding in Eu₅Si₃ and Yb₃Si₅ was investigated by semi-empirical band structure calculations using an extended Hückel hamiltonian. The strongest bonding interactions are found for the Si–Si contacts followed by Eu–Si and Yb–Si, respectively. The main bonding characteristics in Eu₅Si₃ are antibonding Si1₂-π* and bonding Eu–Si1 states at the Fermi level. The same holds true for the silicon polyanion in Yb₃Si₅.