Synthesis and crystal structure of acentric anhydrous beryllium carbonate Be(CO).

The anhydrous alkaline earth metal carbonate Be(CO) was synthesized in a laser-heated diamond anvil cell at moderate pressures and temperatures (20(2) GPa and 1500(200) K) by a reaction of BeO with CO. It crystallizes in the acentric, trigonal space group 321 with = 3. The crystal structure was obtained from synchrotron single crystal X-ray diffraction data and confirmed by density functional theory-based calculations in combination with Raman spectroscopy.