Ternary rare-earth halides of the A2MX5 type (A = K, In, NH4, Rb, Cs; X = Cl, Br, I)

Ternary rare-earth (=M) chlorides, bromides, and iodides In2MCl5, (NH4)2MCl5, Rb2MCl5, Cs2MCl5, CsRbMCl5, K2MBr5, Rb2MBr5, K2MI5, and Rb2MI5 have been synthesized. Single crystals of In2PrCl5, Rb2PrCl5, K2PrBr5, and K2PrI5 were grown and the structures refined. The other halides were characterized by X-ray powder patterns. They are isotypic either with K2PrCl5 (orthorhombic, Pnma, Z = 4, hexagonal arrangement of chains of edge-connected polyhedra [PrX7]) or with Cs2DyCl5 (orthorhombic, Pbnm, Z = 4, hexagonal arrangement of cis-corner-connected octahedra [DyCl6]) which may be discriminated in structure field diagrams. The thermal expansion was investigated for Cs2LuCl5 and Rb2PrX5 (X = Cl, Br, I). (author)