Synthesis, structure, and bonding in K12Au21Sn 4. A polar intermetallic compound with dense Au20 and open AuSn4 layers

Bin Li, Sung Jin Kim, Gordon J. Miller, John D. Corbett

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Abstract

The new phase K12Au21Sn4 has been synthesized by direct reaction of the elements at elevated temperatures. Single crystal X-ray diffraction established Its orthorhombic structure, space group Pmmn (No. 59), a= 12.162(2); b = 18.058(4); c=8.657(2) Å, V= 1901.3(7) Å3, and Z=2. The structure consists of infinite puckered sheets of vertexsharing gold tetrahedra (Au20) that are tied together by thin layers of alternating four-bonded-Sn and -Au atoms (AuSn4). Remarkably, the dense but electron-poorer blocks of Au tetrahedra coexist with more open and saturated Au - Sn layers, which are fragments of a zinc blende type structure that maximize tetrahedral heteroatomic bonding outside of the network of gold tetrahedra. LMTO band structure calculations reveal metallic properties and a pseudogap at 256 valence electrons per formula unit, only three electrons fewer than in the title compound and at a point at which strong Au - Sn bonding is optimized. Additionally, the tight coordination of the Au framework atoms by K plays an Important bonding role: each Au tetrahedra has 10 K neighbors and each K atom has 8-12 Au contacts. The appreciably different role of the p element Sn in this structure from that In the triel members in K 3Au5In and Rb2Au3TI appears to arise from its higher electron count which leads to better p-bonding (valence electron concentrations=1.32 versus 1.22).

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)11108-11113
Number of pages6
JournalInorganic Chemistry
Volume48
Issue number23
DOIs
StatePublished - 2009

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