Structure of crystalline and amorphous materials in the NASICON system Na1+xAlxGe2-x(PO4)3.

The structure of crystalline and amorphous materials in the sodium (Na) super-ionic conductor system Na1+xAlxGe2-x(PO4)3 with x = 0, 0.4, and 0.8 was investigated by combining (i) neutron and x-ray powder diffraction and pair-distribution function analysis with (ii) 27Al and 31P magic angle spinning (MAS) and 31P/23Na double-resonance nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. A Rietveld analysis of the powder diffraction patterns shows that the x = 0 and x = 0.4 compositions crystallize into space group-type R3̄, whereas the x = 0.8 composition crystallizes into space group-type R3̄c. For the as-prepared glass, the pair-distribution functions and 27Al MAS NMR spectra show the formation of sub-octahedral Ge and Al centered units, which leads to the creation of non-bridging oxygen (NBO) atoms. The influence of these atoms on the ion mobility is discussed. When the as-prepared glass is relaxed by thermal annealing, there is an increase in the Ge and Al coordination numbers that leads to a decrease in the fraction of NBO atoms. A model is proposed for the x = 0 glass in which super-structural units containing octahedral Ge(6) and tetrahedral P(3) motifs are embedded in a matrix of tetrahedral Ge(4) units, where superscripts denote the number of bridging oxygen atoms. The super-structural units can grow in size by a reaction in which NBO atoms on the P(3) motifs are used to convert Ge(4) to Ge(6) units. The resultant P(4) motifs thereby provide the nucleation sites for crystal growth via a homogeneous nucleation mechanism.

YHO, an Air-Stable Ionic Hydride.

Metal hydride oxides are an emerging field in solid-state research. While some lanthanide hydride oxides (LnHO) were known, YHO has only been found in thin films so far. Yttrium hydride oxide, YHO, can be synthesized as bulk samples by a reaction of Y2O3 with hydrides (YH3, CaH2), by a reaction of YH3 with CaO, or by a metathesis of YOF with LiH or NaH. X-ray and neutron powder diffraction reveal an anti-LiMgN type structure for YHO (Pnma, a = 7.5367(3) Å, b = 3.7578(2) Å, and c = 5.3249(3) Å) and YDO (Pnma, a = 7.5309(3) Å, b = 3.75349(13) Å, and c = 5.3192(2) Å); in other words, a distorted fluorite type with ordered hydride and oxide anions was observed. Bond lengths (average 2.267 Å (Y-O), 2.352 Å (Y-H), 2.363 Å (Y-D), >2.4 Å (H-H and D-D), >2.6 Å (H-O and D-O), and >2.8 Å (O-O)) and quantum-mechanical calculations on density functional theory level (band gap 2.8 eV) suggest yttrium hydride oxide to be a semiconductor and to have considerable ionic bonding character. Nonetheless, YHO exhibits a surprising stability in air. An in situ X-ray diffraction experiment shows that decomposition of YHO to Y2O3 starts at only above 500 K and is still not complete after 14 h of heating to a final temperature of 1000 K. YHO hydrolyzes in water very slowly. The inertness of YHO in air is very beneficial for its potential use as a functional material.

Determination of element-deuterium bond lengths in Zintl phase deuterides by 2H-NMR.

The Zintl phase deuterides CaSiD4/3, SrSiD5/3, BaSiD2, SrGeD4/3, BaGeD5/3 and BaSnD4/3 were investigated by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and density functional theory (DFT) calculations to reliably determine element-deuterium bond lengths. These compounds show deuterium bound to the polyanion and deuteride ions in tetrahedral cationic voids. With 2H-NMR experiments we characterised the individual signals of the two distinct crystal sites. Quadrupolar coupling constants (CQ) of the anion-binding site were determined as 58 to 78 kHz (Si compounds), 51 to 61 kHz (Ge compounds) and 38 kHz (Sn compound). These values agree well with the quadrupole couplings derived from DFT using optimized structural models. We further calculated the general element-deuterium distance dependency of CQ using DFT methods that allow an accurate determination of bond lengths via the 2H quadrupole interaction. The thus determined bond lengths are evaluated as d(Si-D) = 1.53-1.59 Å, d(Ge-D) = 1.61-1.65 Å and d(Sn-D) = 1.86 Å. Chemical shifts of the anion-binding site range from 0.3 to 1.3 ppm. The isotropic chemical shifts of the tetrahedral sites are 5.1 ppm (CaSiD4/3), 7.0 to 10.0 ppm (Sr compounds) and 10.7 to 11.6 ppm (Ba compounds).

In Situ Hydrogenation of the Zintl Phase SrGe.

Hydrides (deuterides) of the CrB-type Zintl phases AeTt (Ae = alkaline earth; Tt = tetrel) show interesting bonding properties with novel polyanions. In SrGeD4/3-x (γ phase), three zigzag chains of Ge atoms are condensed and terminated by covalently bound D atoms. A combination of in situ techniques (thermal analysis and synchrotron and neutron powder diffraction) revealed the existence of two further hydride (deuteride) phases with lower H (D) content (called α and ß phases). Both are structurally related to the parent Zintl phase SrGe and to the ZrNiH structure type containing variable amounts of H (D) in Sr4 tetrahedra. For α-SrGeDy, the highest D content y = 0.29 was found at 575(2) K under 5.0(1) MPa of D2 pressure, and ß-SrGeDy shows a homogeneity range of 0.47 < y < 0.63. Upon decomposition of SrGeD4/3-x (γ-SrGeDy), tetrahedral Sr4 voids stay filled, while the Ge-bound D4 site loses D. When reaching the lower D content limit, SrGeD4/3-x (γ phase) with 0.10 < x < 0.17, decomposes to the ß phase. All three hydrides (deuterides) of SrGe show variable H (D) content.

Hydrides of Alkaline Earth-Tetrel (AeTt) Zintl Phases: Covalent Tt-H Bonds from Silicon to Tin.

Zintl phases form hydrides either by incorporating hydride anions (interstitial hydrides) or by covalent bonding of H to the polyanion (polyanionic hydrides), which yields a variety of different compositions and bonding situations. Hydrides (deuterides) of SrGe, BaSi, and BaSn were prepared by hydrogenation (deuteration) of the CrB-type Zintl phases AeTt and characterized by laboratory X-ray, synchrotron, and neutron diffraction, NMR spectroscopy, and quantum-chemical calculations. SrGeD4/3-x and BaSnD4/3-x show condensed boatlike six-membered rings of Tt atoms, formed by joining three of the zigzag chains contained in the Zintl phase. These new polyanionic motifs are terminated by covalently bound H atoms with d(Ge-D) = 1.521(9) Å and d(Sn-D) = 1.858(8) Å. Additional hydride anions are located in Ae4 tetrahedra; thus, the features of both interstitial hydrides and polyanionic hydrides are represented. BaSiD2-x retains the zigzag Si chain as in the parent Zintl phase, but in the hydride (deuteride), it is terminated by H (D) atoms, thus forming a linear (SiD) chain with d(Si-D) = 1.641(5) Å.

Structural and Electronic Flexibility in Hydrides of Zintl Phases with Tetrel-Hydrogen and Tetrel-Tetrel Bonds.

The hydrogenation of Zintl phases enables the formation of new structural entities with main-group-element-hydrogen bonds in the solid state. The hydrogenation of SrSi, BaSi, and BaGe yields the hydrides SrSiH5/3-x, BaSiH5/3-x and BaGeH5/3-x . The crystal structures show a sixfold superstructure compared to the parent Zintl phase and were solved by a combination of X-ray, neutron, and electron diffraction and the aid of DFT calculations. Layers of connected HSr4 (HBa4 ) tetrahedra containing hydride ions alternate with layers of infinite single- and double-chain polyanions, in which hydrogen atoms are covalently bound to silicon and germanium. The idealized formulae AeTtH5/3 (Ae=alkaline earth, Tt=tetrel) can be rationalized with the Zintl-Klemm concept according to (Ae2+ )3 (TtH- )(Tt2 H2- )(H- )3 , where all Tt atoms are three-binding. The non-stoichiometry (SrSiH5/3-x , x=0.17(2); BaGeH5/3-x , x=0.10(3)) can be explained by additional π-bonding of the Tt chains.

Electrophile-induced nucleophilic substitution of the nido-dicarbaundecaborate anion nido-7,8-C2B9H12- by conjugated heterodienes.

Substitution of the dicarbaundecaborate anion nido-7,8-C2B9H12(-) (1) by precise hydride abstraction followed by nucleophilic attack usually leads to symmetric products 10-R-nido-7,8-C2B9H11. However, thioacetamide (MeC(S)NH2) as nucleophile and acetone/AlCl3 as hydride abstractor gave asymmetric 9-[MeC(NHiPr)S]-nido-7,8-C2B9H11 (2), whereas N,N-dimethylthioacetamide (MeC(S)NMe2) gave the expected symmetric 10-[MeC(NMe2)S]-nido-7,8-C2B9H11 (4). For the formation of 2, acetone and thioacetamide are assumed to give the intermediate MeC(S)N(CMe2) (3), which then attacks 1 with formation of 2. Similarly, reaction of acetyliminium chloride [MeC(O)NH(CPh2)]Cl (5) with 1 in THF gave a mixture of 9- and 10-substituted [MeC(NHCHPh2)O]-nido-7,8-C2B9H11 (6 and 7, respectively). These reactions are the first examples in which compounds (here heterodienes) that unite the functionalities of both hydride acceptor and nucleophilic site react with 1 in a bimolecular fashion. Furthermore, the analogous reaction of 1 and 5 (in an equilibrium mixture with acetyl chloride and benzophenone imine) in MeCN afforded 10-[MeC(NCPh2)NH]-nido-7,8-C2B9H11 (8) and MeC(O)NHCHPh2 (9).

Experimental boundaries of the quantum rotor induced polarization (QRIP) in liquid state NMR.

The Haupt-effect is a rather seldom used hyperpolarization method. It is based on the interdependence between nuclear spin states and rotational states of nearly free rotating methyl groups having C3 symmetry. A sudden change in temperature from 4.2 K to room temperature by fast dissolution yields considerably enhanced (13)C and (1)H resonance signals. This phenomenon is now termed quantum rotor induced polarization. More than 40 substances have been studied by this approach in order to identify them as polarizable by the 'Haupt-effect in the liquid state'. Influencing factors have been analyzed systematically. It could be concluded that substances having a high tunneling frequency, which is due to a small and narrow potential barrier, are most likely to feature quantum rotor induced polarization-enhanced signals.

Aliovalent anion substitution as a design concept for heteroanionic Ruddlesden-Popper hydrides.

Substituting 2 O2- ⇒ N3- + H- in LiLa2HO3 yields dark-brown heteroanionic hydrides, which were synthesized by solid-state reactions from Li3N, LaH3 (and La2O3). They crystallize in the K2NiF4 type structure with mixed H/N sites in LiLa2N1.5H2.5 and with mixed N/O sites in LiLa2N0.84(6)H1.56(3)O1.16(6). The latter is a semiconductor with small band gap and partly covalent Li-H interaction.