Synthesis and characterization of A3Na10Sn23 (A = Cs, Rb, K) with a new clathrate-like structure and of the chiral clathrate Rb5Na3Sn25.

Four new compounds Cs17.4(1)Na60.6(1)Sn138 (1), Rb19.1(1)Na58.9(1)Sn138 (2), K21.3(1)Na56.7(1)Sn138 (3), and Rb20Na12Sn100 (4) were synthesized by fusion of the corresponding elements. The structures were determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Compounds 1-3 are isostructural and crystallize in a new structure type (rhombohedral, R3m, Z = 1, a = 12.4567(9) A, c = 51.533(3) A for 1; a = 12.465(1) A, c = 51.085(3) A for 2; a = 12.456(2) A, c = 50.559(4) A for 3). The structure contains layers of fused pentagonal dodecahedra of tin that alternate with layers of isolated tin tetrahedra. It is an intergrowth between the structure of clathrate-II (A24Sn136) with the same layers of pentagonal dodecahedra and the Zintl phase ASn with Sn4(4-) tetrahedra. Compound 4 is a new chiral clathrate (cubic, P4(1)32, Z = 1; a = 16.4127(7) A) with stoichiometry that corresponds to an electronically balanced Zintl phase.