Gewellt und eben – La6(C2)‐Oktaederschichten in Lanthancarbidchloriden

Sheets of La₆(C₂) Octahedra in Lanthanum Carbide Chlorides – undulated and plane The reaction of Ln, LnCl₃ (Ln = La, Ce) and C yields the hitherto unknown compounds La₈(C₂)₄Cl₅, Ce₈(C₂)₄Cl₅, La₁₄(C₂)₇Cl₉, La₂₀(C₂)₁₀Cl₁₃, La₂₂(C₂)₁₁Cl₁₄, La₃₆(C₂)₁₈Cl₂₃ and La₂(C₂)Cl. The gold‐ resp. bronze‐coloured metallic compounds are sensitive to moisture. The reaction temperatures are 1030 °C, 1000 °C, 970 °C, 1020 °C, 1020 °C, 1080 °C and 1030 °C in the order of compounds given, which mostly crystallize in the monoclinic space group P2₁/c with a = 7.756(1) Å, b = 16.951(1) Å, c = 6.878(1) Å, β = 104.20(1)° (La₈(C₂)₄Cl₅), a = 7.669(2) Å, b = 16.784(3) Å, c = 6.798(1) Å, β = 104.05(1)° (Ce₈(C₂)₄Cl₅), a = 7.669(2) Å, b = 16.784(3) Å, c = 6.789(1) Å, β = 104.05(3)° (La₂₀(C₂)₁₀Cl₁₃), a = 7.770(2) Å, b = 47.038(9) Å, c = 6.901(1) Å, β = 104.28(3)° (La₂₂(C₂)₁₁Cl₁₄) and a = 7.764(2) Å, b = 77.055(15) Å, c = 6.897(1) Å, β = 104.26(3)° (La₃₆(C₂)₁₈Cl₂₃), respectively. La₁₄(C₂)₇Cl₉‐(II) crystallizes in Pc with a = 7.775(2) Å, b = 29.963(6) Å, c = 6.895(1) Å, β = 104.21(3)° and La₂(C₂)Cl in C2/c with a = 14.770(2) Å, b = 4.187(1) Å, c = 6.802(1) Å, β = 101.50(3)°. The crystal structures are composed of distorted C₂ centered La‐octahedra which are condensed into chains via common edges. Three and four such chains join into ribbons, and these are connected into undulated layers with Cl atoms between them. The variations of the structure principle are analyzed systematically.