Synthesis,Characterization, and Crystal Structure of Na3B20, determined and refined from X‐ray and Neutron Powder Data

At 1050 ?C boron combines with sodium forming a boride of formerly unknown composition and crystal structure. The investigation of the homogeneous, monophasic, and crystalline powder was performed using X‐ray (23 ?C) and neutron (–271.5 ?C) diffraction methods. The structure solution led to an unusual arrangement of boron atoms, characterized by two different types of polyhedra, a distorted pentagonal bipyramid and a distorted octahedron. The Rietveld refinement of the crystal structure was carried out in the orthorhombic space group Cmmm (X‐ray: a = 18.6945(6) Å, b = 5.7009(2) Å, c = 4.1506(1) Å, V = 442.35(1) ų, Z = 2; R_wp = 0.087, R_p = 0.067).