Salt-inclusion synthesis of two new polar solids, Ba6Mn4Si12O34Cl3 and Ba6Fe5Si11O34Cl3.

A new family of salt-containing, mixed-metal silicates (CU-14), Ba6Mn4Si12O34Cl3 (1) and Ba6Fe5Si11O34Cl3 (2), was synthesized via the BaCl2 salt-inclusion reaction. These compounds crystallize in the noncentrosymmetric (NCS) space group Pmc2(1) (No. 26), adopting 1 of the 10 NCS polar, nonchiral crystal classes, mm2 (C2v). The cell dimensions are a = 6.821(1) A, b = 9.620(2) A, c = 13.172(3) A, and V = 864.4(3) A3 for 1 and a = 6.878(1) A, b = 9.664(2) A, c = 13.098(3) A, and V = 870.6(3) A3 for 2. The structures form a composite framework made of the (M(4+x)Si(12-x)O34)9- (M = Mn, x = 0; M = Fe, x = 1) covalent oxide and (Ba6Cl3)9+ ionic chloride sublattices. The covalent framework exhibits a pseudo-one-dimensional channel where the extended barium chloride lattice (Ba3Cl1.5)(infinity) resides, and it consists of fused eight-membered meta-silicate rings propagating along [100] via sharing two opposite [Si2O7]6- units to form an acentric lattice. Single-crystal structure studies also reveal the ClBa4 unit adopting an interesting seesaw configuration, in which the lone pair electrons of chlorine preferentially face the oxide anions of the transition metal silicate channel, thus forming the observed polar frameworks. Similar to the synthesis of organic-inorganic hybrid materials, the salt-inclusion method facilitates a promising approach for the directed synthesis of special framework solids, including NCS compounds, via composite lattices.