Tl2S: Re-Determination of Crystal Structure and Stereochemical Discussion

The crystal structure of synthetic carlinite, Tl₂S, was re-determined by single crystal and powder X-ray diffraction methods. The cell parameters obtained from Rietveld refinement are a=12.150(2) Å, c=18.190(4) Å, V=2325.5(7) ų. A single crystal data refinement proved Tl₂S crystallizing in the trigonal space group R3 with M=440.8gmol⁻¹, Z=27, R=0.076, and wR=0.145. The atomic arrangement found is that of a strongly deformed anti-CdI₂ type, but the deformation is clearly different from that given by previous workers. In the five crystallographically different STl₆ octahedra the S-Tl distances vary between 2.82 and 3.09Å, the Tl-Tl edges between 3.52 and 4.58Å. The common features of these octahedra are (i) each one with a definitely smaller vs larger Tl₃ face in trans-position, both faces parallel or sub-parallel (00.1), and (ii) each three shorter and longer S-Tl distances to the atoms of the larger and smaller Tl₃ faces, respectively. The Tl-Tl contacts between different Tl₂S sheets are on the average definitely shorter than the ones within the sheet and they can be smaller than the Tl-Tl contacts in the small Tl₃ faces of the STl₆ octahedra. The atomic arrangement indicates that the single electron pairs of the monovalent Tl atoms are not arranged all parallel to the z-axis, as one would expect for Tl₂S with an ideal anti-CdI₂ structure. The surrounding of the S atoms resembles that of one-third of the Cl atoms in yellow InCl. The absorbance of Tl₂S is very low at wave numbers approximately <9000 cm⁻¹.