Crystal structure of naturally occurring mercury(II) amidonitrate

A naturally-occurring mercuroammonium compound from Pitkin County, Colorado, is shown to be the natural analog of synthetic HgNH₂NO₃. The crystals are isometric, P4₁32 or P4₃32, with a = 10.254(1)Å and twelve formula weights per cell. Using 437 symmetry-independent reflections, the crystal structure was partially determined and refined to a residual of 0.090. The positions of the Hg atoms and the N and O atoms of the nitrate group were determined, but the amide ion could not be located, probably due to positional disorder. The structure contains mercury atoms arranged in equilateral triangles 3.421(1) Å on a side. These triangles are linked through shared vertices into helical chains wound around the fourfold screw axes. Similar triangular units occur in other inorganic Hg(II) compounds. The distortion of the nitrate ion from trigonal planar symmetry is also discussed.