Hydrothermal synthesis and structural characterization of a new organically templated germanate,Ge(10)O(21)(OH).N(4)C(6)H(21)

A new open-framework germanium oxide Ge(10)O(21)(OH).N(4)C(6)H(21) has been hydrothermally synthesized at 180 degrees C for 6 days by using the tris(2-aminoethyl)amine (tren) molecule as a structure-directing agent. This compound was characterized by means of single-crystal X-ray diffraction and FTIR. It crystallizes in the noncentric monoclinic system Cm (a = 14.0495(2) A, b = 12.8058(3) A, c = 9.2637(2) A, beta = 128.406(1) degrees, Z = 4). Its three-dimensional framework is built up from GeO(4) and GeO(3)(OH) tetrahedra connected by vertexes to GeO(5) trigonal bipyramids and GeO(6) octahedra. A pseudo-cubic building unit ("4-3" subunit) consists of four GeO(4) tetrahedra, two GeO(5) trigonal bipyramids, and one GeO(6) octahedron (Ge(7)). In the "4-3" block, the GeO(5) trigonal bipyramids share a common edge. This Ge(7) entity is linked to three tetrahedral units GeO(3)X (X = O, OH), and this forms an original decameric building unit Ge(10)O(21)(OH) which is new in the germanates crystal chemistry. It results in a relatively dense open framework composed of pear-shape cavities (7(8)6(2)5(2)4(4)3(2)) encapsulating the triprotonated tren molecule. The inorganic network contains small pores delimited by 7-ring channels running along [001].