Structural and Vibrational Study of CsSbGeO, a New Germanate in the SbGeO Family ( = Alkali Metal).

The germanate CsSbGeO, grown spontaneously via the high-temperature solution method from CsMoO used as a flux, crystallizes in the orthorhombic system with = 12.3636(2), = 13.8521(2), = 31.4824(5) Å, and = 5391.73(2) Å. Its structure, determined from single-crystal X-ray diffraction data, is most probably noncentrosymmetric despite our choice to report it in the centrosymmetric maximal supergroup (no. 62) in which agreement factors 1 0.0371 and w2 = 0.0706 (all data) were obtained. The unit cell contains 24 formulas CsSbGeO. The three-dimensional network is built up with regular germanate tetrahedra at nine crystallographically independent Ge sites. The Sb atoms (four independent positions) adopt octahedral coordination with O atoms, and the Cs cations are located in the channels of the 3-D network. A more in-depth analysis of the structure of CsSbGeO is carried out in the light of the structures previously determined for the compounds SbGeO ( = K, Rb) having the same chemical formula but significantly different atomic arrangements. The structural characteristics are discussed related to literature and the nature of the monovalent cation .