Synthesis of bimetallic trifluoroacetates through a crystallochemical investigation of their monometallic counterparts: the case of (A, A')(CFCOO)·nHO (A, A' = Mg, Ca, Sr, Ba, Mn).

Owing to their potential as single-source precursors for compositionally complex materials, there is growing interest in the rational design of multimetallic compounds containing fluorinated ligands. In this work, we show that chemical and structural principles for a materials-by-design approach to bimetallic trifluoroacetates can be established through a systematic investigation of the crystal-chemistry of their monometallic counterparts. A(CFCOO)·nHO (A = Mg, Ca, Sr, Ba, Mn) monometallic trifluoroacetates were employed to demonstrate the feasibility of this approach.

Open-Framework Structures of Anhydrous Sr(CF3COO)2 and Ba(CF3COO)2.

Anhydrous Sr(CF3COO)2 and Ba(CF3COO)2 open-framework structures featuring three-dimensional connectivity of metal-oxygen polyhedra were crystallized from a mixture of water and CF3COOH. Crystallization was induced via evaporation of the solvent mixture under a dry nitrogen flow. This approach differs from that routinely employed for crystallization of metal trifluoroacetates, which achieves solvent evaporation by heating under air and yields hydrated salts.