New fluoroborate Cd8B5O15F with two different isolated borate anions prepared by an open high-temperature solution method.

The novel cadmium fluoroborate crystal Cd8B5O15F has been successfully obtained from the reaction of the high-temperature solution method in open air for the first time. An X-ray crystallographic study of the product reveals that Cd8B5O15F crystallizes in the space group Fd3[combining macron]m. The parameters of the cubic unit cell are a = 13.972(3) Å, and Z = 8. The title compound exhibits a complicated three-dimensional (3D) network. And the crystal structure is composed of two isolated borate anions: BO3 and B(O/F)4. For the B(O/F)4 group, it consists of the occupancy of F and O with the ratio of 3 : 1. Spectroscopic properties using the IR spectrum, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and Raman spectrum were measured to illustrate this feature. The thermal behavior and UV-Vis-NIR diffuse-reflectance spectrum of Cd8B5O15F are also reported in this work.