Crystal Growth,Single‐Crystal Structure Refinement and Unusual Ligand‐Field Splittings of Lazulite‐Type Oxidephosphates MTi2O2(PO4)2 (M = FeII,CoII, NiII)

Single crystals of oxidephosphates MTi₂O₂(PO₄)₂ M: Fe (dark red), Co (pinkish red), Ni (green)] with edge‐lengths up to 0.4 mm were grown by chemical vapour transport. FeTi₂O₂(PO₄)₂ and CoTi₂O₂(PO₄)₂ are isotypic to NiTi₂O₂(PO₄)₂. The crystal structure of the latter was previously solved from powder data FeTi₂O₂(PO₄)₂ (data for CoTi₂O₂(PO₄)₂ and NiTi₂O₂(PO₄)₂ in brackets): monoclinic, P2₁/c, Z = 2, a = 7.394(3) (7.381(6), 7.388(4)) Å, b = 7.396(2) (7.371(5), 7.334(10)) Å, c = 7.401(3) (7.366(6), 7.340(3)) Å, β = 120.20(3) (120.26(6), 120.12(4))°, R₁ = 0.0393 (0.0309, 0.0539) wR₂ = 0.1154 (0.0740, 0.1389), 2160 (1059, 1564) independent reflections, 75 (76, 77) variables]. The single‐crystal study allowed improved refinement using anisotropic displacement parameters, yielded lower standard deviations for the structural parameters and revealed a small amount of cation disordering. Twinning and cation disordering within the structures are rationalized by a detailed crystallographic classification of the MTi₂O₂(PO₄)₂ structure type in terms of group‐subgroup relations. The structure is characterized by a three‐dimensional network of PO₄] tetrahedra and M^IITi₂O₁₂] groups formed by face‐sharing of M^IIO₆] and TiO₆] octahedra. Electronic absorption spectra of MTi₂O₂(PO₄)₂ in the UV/VIS/NIR region show rather large ligand‐field splittings for the strongly trigonally distorted chromophors M^IIO₆] (M = Fe, Co, Ni) with interelectronic repulsion parameters beeing slightly smaller than in other phosphates. Interpretation of the spectra within the framework of the angular overlap model reveals a significant second‐sphere ligand field effect of Ti^IV ions on the electronic levels of the Ni^II and Co^II.