Synthesis, Structure, and Properties of 2O-BaPtO3, a Phase Derived from Hexagonal Perovskite.

We have made the compound 2O-BaPtO3 by high-pressure, high-temperature synthesis, determined its structure, and tested its catalytic activity. Compounds of the same stoichiometry have been reported and tentatively identified as hexagonal perovskites, and although no structural model was ever established, 2O-BaPtO3 is clearly different and, to the best of our knowledge, unique. It features continuous chains of face-sharing PtO6 octahedra, like the well-known 2H hexagonal perovskite type, but with a staggered offset between the chains that breaks hexagonal symmetry and disrupts the close-packed array of A = Ba and X = O that is a defining characteristic of ABX3 perovskites. We investigated this structure and its stability vs the conventional 2H form using X-ray and neutron diffraction, X-ray absorption spectroscopy, and ab initio calculations. Catalytic testing of 2O-BaPtO3 showed that it is active for hydrogen evolution.

Simulation of Cocrystal Formation in Planetary Atmospheres: The C6H6:C2H2 Cocrystal Produced by Gas Deposition.

The formation of molecular cocrystals in condensed aerosol particles has been recently proposed as an efficient pathway for generation of complex organics in Titan's atmosphere. It follows that cocrystal precipitation may facilitate the transport of biologically important precursors to the surface to be sequestered in an organic karstic and sand environment. Recent laboratory studies on these planetary minerals have predominantly synthesized cocrystals by the controlled freezing of binary mixtures from the liquid phase, allowing for their structural and spectroscopic characterization. However, these techniques are perhaps not best representative of aerosol nucleation and growth microphysics in planetary atmospheres. Herein, we report the first synthesis of the known 1:1 C6H6:C2H2 cocrystal using vapor deposition methods onto a cryogenically cooled substrate. Subsequent transmission FTIR spectroscopy has confirmed the formation of the empirical C6H6:C2H2 cocrystal structure via the observation of diagnostic infrared spectral features. Predicted by periodic-DFT calculations, altered vibrational profiles depict a changing site symmetry of the C6H6 and C2H2 components after transition to the cocrystal unit cell geometry. The 80 K temperature of the cocrystal phase transition overlaps with the condensation curves obtained for both species in Titan's lower stratosphere, revealing that the cocrystal may act as an important environment for photo- and radio-lytic processes leading to the formation of higher order organics in Titan's atmosphere. Such solid-state astrochemistry can now be pursued in oxygen-free laboratory settings under (ultra)high vacuum using standard surface science setups.

Titan in a Test Tube: Organic Co-crystals and Implications for Titan Mineralogy.

In this Account, we highlight recent work in the developing field of mineralogy of Saturn's moon Titan, focusing on binary co-crystals of small organic molecules. Titan has a massive inventory of organic molecules on its surface that are formed via photochemistry in the atmosphere and likely processing on the surface as well. Physical processes both in the atmosphere and on the surface can lead to molecules interacting at cryogenic temperatures. Recent laboratory work has demonstrated that co-crystals between two or more molecules can form under these conditions. In the organic-rich environment of Titan, such co-crystals are naturally occurring minerals and a critical area of research to understand the physical, chemical, and possibly even biological and prebiotic processes occurring in this alien world.With a future NASA mission, Dragonfly, slated to land on Titan in the next decade, much work is needed to understand organic mineralogy in order to properly interpret the data from this and past Titan missions, such as Cassini-Huygens. By cataloging Titan minerals and their properties, we can begin to connect these behaviors to large-scale surface features observed on Titan (labyrinth terrain, lake evaporites, karst, dunes, etc.), and possible processes leading to their formation (erosion, deposition, etc.). To date, seven co-crystals (aside from clathrates and hydrates) have been experimentally reported to form under Titan-relevant conditions, with an eighth predicted by theoretical modeling. This Account will summarize the formation and properties of these cryominerals and discuss the implications for surface processes on Titan. Enhanced thermal expansion and decreased crystal size, for example, may lead to fracturing and/or more rapid erosion of co-crystal-based deposits; density changes upon co-crystal formation may also play a role in organic diagenesis and metamorphism on Titan. Some cryominerals with stability only under certain conditions may preserve the evidence of Titan's history, such as cryovolcanic activity, ethane fluvial/pluvial exposure, and outgassing of CO2 from the interior of the moon.In this Account, we will also highlight areas of future work, such as the characterization of pure molecular solids and the search for ternary (and more complex) co-crystals. We note that on Titan, organic chemistry dominates, which gives a unique opportunity for chemists to play an even more significant role in planetary science discoveries and likewise in discoveries motivated by planetary science to inform fundamental organic and physical chemistry research.

The crystal structure, thermal expansion and far-IR spectrum of propanal (CH3CH2CHO) determined using powder X-ray diffraction, neutron scattering, periodic DFT and synchrotron techniques.

The crystal structure of propanal has been determined using powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), where this common laboratory aldehyde is measured to crystallise in spacegroup P21/a, Z = 4 with a unit cell a = 8.9833(6) Å, b = 4.2237(2) Å, c = 9.4733(6) Å and ß = 97.508(6)°, resulting in a volume of 356.37(4) Å3 at 100 K and atmospheric pressure. The thermal expansion observed from 100 K until the sample melted (∼164 K) was found to be anisotropic. An additional neutron diffraction study was carried out, reaching a temperature of 3 K and found no further phase transformations from the determined structure at lower temperatures. The investigated temperature regime correlates to astronomical surfaces, including outer Solar System bodies and interstellar dust mantles, where propanal is thought to be generated by energetic processing of composite molecular ices. Results from the structure determination were applied to model propanal ice using periodic density functional theory for the calculation of intermolecular frequencies, where the simulated far-infrared spectrum of solid propanal can now be used for future molecular astronomy.

The Effect of Sterically Active Ligand Substituents on Gas Adsorption within a Family of 3D Zn-Based Coordination Polymers.

An investigation of the adsorption properties of two structurally related, 3D coordination polymers of composition Zn(2-Mehba) and Zn(2,6-Me2hba) (2-Mehba = the dianion of 2-methyl-4-hydroxybenzoic acid and 2,6-Me2hba = the dianion of 2,6-dimethyl-4-hydroxybenzoic acid) is presented. A common feature of these structures are parallel channels that are able to accommodate appropriately sized guest molecules. The structures differ with respect to the steric congestion within the channels arising from methyl groups appended to the bridging ligands of the network. The host network, Zn(2-Mehba), is able to take up appreciable quantities of H2 (77 K) and CO2 and CH4 (298 K) in a reversible manner. In regard to the adsorption of N2 by Zn(2-Mehba), there appears to be an unusual temperature dependence for the uptake of the gas such that when the temperature is increased from 77 to 298 K the uptake of N2 increases. The relatively narrow channels of Zn(2,6-Me2hba) are too small to allow the uptake of N2 and CH4, but H2 molecules can be adsorbed. A pronounced step at elevated pressures in CO2 and N2O isotherms for Zn(2,6-Me2hba) is noted. Calculations indicate that rotation of phenolate rings leads to a change in the available intraframework space during CO2 dosing.

Structural and Magnetic Properties of the Osmium Double Perovskites Ba2-xSrxYOsO6.

The crystal and magnetic structures of double perovskites of the type Ba2-xSrxYOsO6 were studied by synchrotron X-ray and neutron powder diffraction methods, bulk magnetic susceptibility measurements, and X-ray absorption spectroscopy. The structures were refined using combined neutron and synchrotron data sets based on an ordered array of corner-sharing YO6 and OsO6 octahedra, with the Ba/Sr cations being completely disordered. The structure evolves from cubic to monoclinic Fm3̅m (x ≈ 0.6) → I4/m (x ≈ 1.0) → I2/m (x ≈ 1.6) → P21/n as the Sr content is increased, due to the introduction of cooperative tilting of the octahedra. Bulk magnetic susceptibility measurements demonstrate the oxides are all anti-ferromagnets. The decrease in symmetry results in a nonlinear increase in the Neel temperature. Low-temperature neutron diffraction measurements of selected examples show these to be type-I anti-ferromagnets. X-ray absorption spectra collected at the Os L3- and L2-edges confirm the Os is pentavalent in all cases, and there is no detectable change in the covalency of the Os cation as the A-cation changes. Analysis of the L3/L2 branching ratio shows that the spin-orbit coupling is constant and insignificant across the series.

A New Structural Family of Gas-Sorbing Coordination Polymers Derived from Phenolic Carboxylic Acids.

The structure of Li(inox)⋅2/3 DMF (inox(-) =the N-oxide of the isonicotinate anion) consists of a 3D framework with solvent-filled, square cross-section channels of approximate dimensions 5.5×5.5 Å. Unfortunately, the Li(inox) framework is unstable upon removal of DMF from the channels. When the structurally related 4-hydroxybenzoic acid (H2 hba) was used in place of Hinox, and Zn(2+) in place of the Li(+) , a structurally similar but more robust network, Zn(hba), was obtained; the isostructural compound, Co(hba), may also be prepared. Longer ligands with phenolate and carboxylate functional groups at opposite ends, such as the dianions of 4-coumaric acid (H2 cma) and 4'-hydroxy-4-biphenylcarboxylic acid (H2 hbpc), in combination with Zn(2+) yield Zn(cma) and Zn(hbpc) frameworks, respectively, with the same PtS topology but with larger channels. The coordination polymers remain intact after desolvation and exhibit microporosity, showing the ability to sorb significant quantities of CO2 , CH4 , and H2 .

Isomeric ionic lithium isonicotinate three-dimensional networks and single-crystal-to-single-crystal rearrangements generating microporous materials.

Reaction between LiOH and isonicotinic acid (inicH) in the appropriate solvent or mixture of solvents affords a family of variously solvated forms of a simple ionic lithium salt, viz., Li(+)inic(-)·S (where S = 0.5 morpholine, 0.5 dioxane, 0.25 n-hexanol, 0.5 N-methylpyrrolidinone, 0.5 N,N-dimethylformamide, 0.5 n-propanol, 0.5 cyclohexanol, 0.5 pyridine, 0.5 t-butanol, 0.5 ethanol, and 0.5 methanol). Three-dimensional Li(+)inic(-) frameworks containing solvent-filled channels are present in all of these except for the MeOH and EtOH solvates. The nondirectional character of the electrostatic interactions between the Li(+) and inic(-) ions bestows an element of "plasticity" upon the framework, manifested in the observation of no less than five different framework structures within the family. Unusual single-crystal-to-single-crystal transformations accompany desolvation of Li(+)inic(-)·S in which the Li(+)inic(-) framework undergoes a major rearrangement (from a structure containing "8484 chains" to one with "6666 chains"). The "before and after" structures are strongly suggestive of the mechanism and the driving force for these solid state framework rearrangements: processes which further demonstrate the "plasticity" of the ionic Li(inic) framework. A solid-state mechanism for these desolvation processes that accounts very satisfactorily for the formation of the channels and for the diverse geometrical/topological aspects of the transformation is proposed. The reverse process allows the regeneration of the solvated 8484 form. When the 6666 Li(+)inic(-) form is immersed in carbon disulfide, a single-crystal-to-single-crystal transformation occurs to generate Li(+)inic(-)·0.25CS2. The hydrate, Li(+)inic(-)·2H2O which consists of discrete Li(inic)·H2O chains obtained by recrystallizing the salt from water, can also be obtained by hydration of the 6666 form. A dense 3D network with the formula, Li(inic) can be obtained in a reversible process by the removal of the water from the hydrated form and also by crystallization from a t-amyl alcohol solution.

Crystals in the community and the classroom.

The growing pressure on school curricula has meant crystals and the science of crystallography have been cut from or made optional for many educational programs. This omission is a serious disservice to the history and understanding of modern sciences, given that crystallography underpins many of the greatest advancements in science over the past century, is a critical component of many modern research papers and patents, and has 29 Nobel Prizes awarded in the field. This contribution describes a simple activity to target classroom and public engagement with crystallography, using marshmallows or equivalent sweets/candy to represent atoms and cocktail sticks to represent bonds, together with examples of how crystals are studied and how they are useful. Though it has a simple basis, this activity can be extended in numerous ways to reflect the aims of the demonstrator, and a few of these are described.

Propyne: Determination of Physical Properties and Unit Cell Parameters under Titan-Relevant Conditions.

With its large size, dense atmosphere, methane-based hydrological-like cycle, and diverse surface features, the Saturnian moon Titan is one of the most unique of the outer Solar System satellites. Study of the photochemically produced molecules in Titan's atmosphere is critical in order to understand the mechanics of the atmosphere and, by extension, the interactions between atmosphere, surface, and subsurface water ocean. One example is propyne vapor, a photochemically produced species in Titan's upper atmosphere expected to condense in Titan's stratosphere at lower altitudes. Propyne may also be a trace species in Titan's stratospheric co-condensed ice clouds detected by the Cassini Composite InfraRed Spectrometer. Bulk structural characterization of propyne ice is currently incomplete and is lacking in published laboratory Raman spectra and X-ray diffraction data. Here, we present a laboratory characterization of propyne ice, including the first published X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy results for propyne ice.

Intercalated Water Drives Anomalous Thermal Expansion in the Tetragonal Zircon Structured Bismuth Vanadate BiVO4 Photocatalyst.

The thermal transformation of the tetragonal-zircon (tz-) to tetragonal-scheelite (ts-)BiVO4 was studied by in situ synchrotron X-ray diffraction, thermogravimetric analysis, and Fourier-transformed infrared spectroscopy. Upon heating, the tetragonal zircon polymorph of BiVO4 (tz-BiVO4) transitioned to the ts-polymorph between 693-773 K. Above 773 K, single phase ts-BiVO4 was observed before transitioning to the monoclinic fergusonite (mf-) polymorph upon cooling. An anomaly in thermal expansion was observed between 400-500 K, associated with the loss of intercalated H2O/NH4 + from the coprecipitation procedure. Heating tz-BiVO4 resulted in contraction of the V-O bond distance and VO4 polyhedra volume, ascribed to rotation of the tetrahedra groups. Attempts to study this by neutron diffraction failed due to the large incoherent scatter from the hydrogenous species. Efforts to remove these species while maintaining the tz-BiVO4 structure were unsuccessful, suggesting they play a role in stabilizing the tz-polymorph. The local structure of both mf-BiVO4 and tz-BiVO4 were investigated by X-ray pair distribution function analysis, revealing local distortions.

Reactivity of xenon with ice at planetary conditions.

We report results from high pressure and temperature experiments that provide evidence for the reactivity of xenon with water ice at pressures above 50 GPa and a temperature of 1500 K-conditions that are found in the interiors of Uranus and Neptune. The x-ray data are sufficient to determine a hexagonal lattice with four Xe atoms per unit cell and several possible distributions of O atoms. The measurements are supplemented with ab initio calculations, on the basis of which a crystallographic structure with a Xe4O12H12 primitive cell is proposed. The newly discovered compound is formed in the stability fields of superionic ice and η-O2, and has the same oxygen subnetwork as the latter. Furthermore, it has a weakly metallic character and likely undergoes sublattice melting of the H subsystem. Our findings indicate that Xe is expected to be depleted in the atmospheres of the giant planets as a result of sequestration at depth.

Use of a miniature diamond-anvil cell in a joint X-ray and neutron high-pressure study on copper sulfate pentahydrate.

Single-crystal X-ray and neutron diffraction data are usually collected using separate samples. This is a disadvantage when the sample is studied at high pressure because it is very difficult to achieve exactly the same pressure in two separate experiments, especially if the neutron data are collected using Laue methods where precise absolute values of the unit-cell dimensions cannot be measured to check how close the pressures are. In this study, diffraction data have been collected under the same conditions on the same sample of copper(II) sulfate pentahydrate, using a conventional laboratory diffractometer and source for the X-ray measurements and the Koala single-crystal Laue diffractometer at the ANSTO facility for the neutron measurements. The sample, of dimensions 0.40 × 0.22 × 0.20 mm3 and held at a pressure of 0.71 GPa, was contained in a miniature Merrill-Bassett diamond-anvil cell. The highly penetrating diffracted neutron beams passing through the metal body of the miniature cell as well as through the diamonds yielded data suitable for structure refinement, and compensated for the low completeness of the X-ray measurements, which was only 24% on account of the triclinic symmetry of the sample and the shading of reciprocal space by the cell. The two data-sets were combined in a single 'XN' structure refinement in which all atoms, including H atoms, were refined with anisotropic displacement parameters. The precision of the structural parameters was improved by a factor of up to 50% in the XN refinement compared with refinements using the X-ray or neutron data separately.

Interface-Driven Multiferroicity in Cubic BaTiO3-SrTiO3 Nanocomposites.

Perovskite multiferroics have drawn significant attention in the development of next-generation multifunctional electronic devices. However, the majority of existing multiferroics exhibit ferroelectric and ferromagnetic orderings only at low temperatures. Although interface engineering in complex oxide thin films has triggered many exotic room-temperature functionalities, the desired coupling of charge, spin, orbital and lattice degrees of freedom often imposes stringent requirements on deposition conditions, layer thickness and crystal orientation, greatly hindering their cost-effective large-scale applications. Herein, we report an interface-driven multiferroicity in low-cost and environmentally friendly bulk polycrystalline material, namely cubic BaTiO3-SrTiO3 nanocomposites which were fabricated through a simple, high-throughput solid-state reaction route. Interface reconstruction in the nanocomposites can be readily controlled by the processing conditions. Coexistence of room-temperature ferromagnetism and ferroelectricity, accompanying a robust magnetoelectric coupling in the nanocomposites, was confirmed both experimentally and theoretically. Our study explores the 'hidden treasure at the interface' by creating a playground in bulk perovskite oxides, enabling a broad range of applications that are challenging with thin films, such as low-power-consumption large-volume memory and magneto-optic spatial light modulator.

Neutron diffraction study of the monoclinic - tetragonal phase transition in NdNbO4 and NdTaO4.

Phase transition and high-temperature properties of NdNbO4 and NdTaO4 were studied in situ using powder neutron diffraction methods. Both oxides undergo a reversible phase transition from a monoclinic I2/a phase at low temperatures to a tetragonal I41/a phase at high temperatures. The phase transition has been investigated through analysis of the spontaneous strains and symmetry distortion modes. Well below the transition temperature, Tc, the thermal evolution of the lattice parameters and symmetry modes suggest the transition is continuous, although a small discontinuity in both the spontaneous strains and symmetry distortion modes shows the transition is strictly first order. Analysis of the refined structures reveals that the Nb and Ta cations are best described as having a distorted 6-coordinate arrangement in the monoclinic structure, with four short and two long bonds. Breaking of the two long bonds at high temperatures, resulting in a transformation of the Nb(Ta) coordination to a regular tetrahedron, is believed to be responsible for the first order nature of the transition.

Re-examining the crystal structure behaviour of nitrogen and methane.

In the light of NASA's New Horizons mission, the solid-phase behaviour of methane and nitrogen has been re-examined and the thermal expansion coefficients of both materials have been determined over their whole solid temperature range for the first time. Neutron diffraction results indicate that the symmetric Pa 3 space group is the best description for the α-nitrogen structure, rather than the long-accepted P213. Furthermore, it is also observed that ß-nitrogen and methane phase I show changes in texture on warming, indicating grain growth.

Rhenium(i) complexation-dissociation strategy for synthesising fluorine-18 labelled pyridine bidentate radiotracers.

A novel fluorine-18 method employing rhenium(i) mediation is described herein. The method was found to afford moderate to high radiochemical yields of labelled rhenium(i) complexes. Subsequent thermal dissociation of the complexes enabled the radiosynthesis of fluorine-18 labelled pyridine bidentate structures which could not be radiofluorinated hitherto. This rhenium(i) complexation-dissociation strategy was further applied to the radiosynthesis of [18F]CABS13, an Alzheimer's disease imaging agent, alongside other 2,2'-bipyridine, 1,10-phenanthroline and 8-hydroxyquinoline labelled radiotracers. Computational modelling of the reaction mechanism suggests that the efficiency of rhenium(i) activation may be attributed to both an electron withdrawal effect by the metal center and the formation of an acyl fluoride intermediate which anchors the fluoride subsequent to nucleophilic addition.

Squeezing electrons out of 6s2 lone-pairs in perovskite-type oxides.

Having identified a set of conditions that predispose a solid-state ionic compound to a pressure-induced valence transition, we investigated a series of Bi(iii) perovskite oxides. We found such a transition below 10 GPa in every case, including one that we synthesised for the first time (double perovskite-type Ba2BiOsO6).

Deformation-resembling microstructure created by fluid-mediated dissolution-precipitation reactions.

Deformation microstructures are widely used for reconstructing tectono-metamorphic events recorded in rocks. In crustal settings deformation is often accompanied and/or succeeded by fluid infiltration and dissolution-precipitation reactions. However, the microstructural consequences of dissolution-precipitation in minerals have not been investigated experimentally. Here we conducted experiments where KBr crystals were reacted with a saturated KCl-H2O fluid. The results show that reaction products, formed in the absence of deformation, inherit the general crystallographic orientation from their parents, but also display a development of new microstructures that are typical in deformed minerals, such as apparent bending of crystal lattices and new subgrain domains, separated by low-angle and, in some cases, high-angle boundaries. Our work suggests that fluid-mediated dissolution-precipitation reactions can lead to a development of potentially misleading microstructures. We propose a set of criteria that may help in distinguishing such microstructures from the ones that are created by crystal-plastic deformation.

A co-crystal between benzene and ethane: a potential evaporite material for Saturn's moon Titan.

Using synchrotron X-ray powder diffraction, the structure of a co-crystal between benzene and ethane formed in situ at cryogenic conditions has been determined, and validated using dispersion-corrected density functional theory calculations. The structure comprises a lattice of benzene molecules hosting ethane molecules within channels. Similarity between the intermolecular interactions found in the co-crystal and in pure benzene indicate that the C-H⋯π network of benzene is maintained in the co-crystal, however, this expands to accommodate the guest ethane molecules. The co-crystal has a 3:1 benzene:ethane stoichiometry and is described in the space group [Formula: see text] with a = 15.977 (1) Šand c = 5.581 (1) Šat 90 K, with a density of 1.067 g cm(-3). The conditions under which this co-crystal forms identify it is a potential that forms from evaporation of Saturn's moon Titan's lakes, an evaporite material.