Syntheses and crystal structures of the compounds In3.7Mo15S19, In1.6Rb2Mo15S19, In2.2CSMo15S19, and ScTl2Mo15S19 containing Mo6 and Mo9 clusters

The new compounds In3.7Mo15S19, In1.6Rb2Mo15S19, In2.2CsMo15S19, and ScTl2Mo15S19 have been synthesized by solid-state reaction in sealed molybdenum crucible at about 1250 degreesC. Their crystal structures were solved and refined from X-ray single-crystal data in the hexagonal space group P63/m. Their Mo-S framework consists of an equal mixture of Mo6S8S6 and Mo9S11S6 cluster units interconnected through Mo-S bonds. In In3.7Mo15S19, the In atoms occupy crystallographically different positions depending on their formal oxidation states of +1 or +3. This was confirmed by replacing partially or totally the monovalent indium by another monovalent cation such as the rubidium, cesium or thallium and the trivalent indium by the scandium to get the new In1.6Rb2Mo15S19, In2.2CsMo15S19, and ScTl2Mo15S19 compounds, respectively. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.