Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-2lccl Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-29T23:13:30.493Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The crystal structure of szenicsite, Cu3MoO4(OH)4

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 July 2018

Peter C. Burns*
Affiliation:
Department of Civil Engineering and Geological Sciences, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana 46556-0767, USA

Abstract

The crystal structure of szenicsite, Cu3MoO4(OH)4, orthorhombic, a = 8.5201(8), b = 12.545(1), c = 6.0794(6) Å, V = 649.8(2) Å3, space group Pnnm, Z = 4, has been solved by direct methods and refined by least-squares techniques to an agreement index (R) of 3.34% and a goodness-of-fit (S) of 1.11 for 686 unique observed [|F| ⩾ 4σF] reflections collected using graphite-monochromated Mo-Kα X-radiation and a CCD area detector. The structure contains three unique Cu2+ positions that are each coordinated by six anions in distorted octahedral arrangements; the distortions of the octahedra are due to the Jahn-Teller effect associated with a d9 metal in an octahedral ligand-field. The single unique Mo6+ position is tetrahedrally coordinated by four O2− anions. The Cu2+ϕ6 (ϕ: unspecified ligand) octahedra share trans edges to form rutile-like chains, three of which join by the sharing of octahedral edges to form triple chains that are parallel to [001]. The MoO4 tetrahedra are linked to either side of the triple chain of Cu2+ϕ6 octahedra by the sharing of two vertices per tetrahedron, and the resulting chains are cross-linked through tetrahedral-octahedral vertex sharing to form a framework structure. The structure of szenicsite is closely related to that of antlerite, Cu3SO4(OH)4, which contains similar triple chains of edge-sharing Cu2+ϕ6 octahedra.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland 1998

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Brese, N.E. And O'Keeffe, M. (199l) Bond-Valence Parameters For Solids. Acta Crystallogr., B47, 192–7.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bums, P.C. and Hawthorne, F.C. (1996) Static and dynamic Jahn-Teller effects in Cu2- oxysalt minerals. Canad. Mineral., 34, 1089–105.Google Scholar
Eby, R.K. and Hawthorne, F.C. (1993) Structural relations in copper oxysalt minerals. I. Structural hierarchy. Acta Crystallogr., B49, 2856.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Francis, C.A., Pitman, L.C. and Lange, D.E. (1997) Szenicsite, a new copper molybdate from Inca de Oro, Atacama, Chile. Mineral. Record., 28, 387–94.Google Scholar
Hawthorne, F.C. and Eby, R.K. (1985) Refinement of the crystal structure of lindgrenite. Neues Jahrb. Mineral., Mh., 234–40.Google Scholar
Hawthorne, F.C., Groat, L.E. and Eby, R.K. (1989) Antlerite, Cu3SO4(OH)4, a heteropolyhedral wallpaper structure. Canad. Mineral, 27, 205–9.Google Scholar
Ibers, J.A. and Hamilton, W.C., eds. (1974) International Tables for X-Ray Crystallography, IV. The Kynoch Press, Birmingham, UK.Google Scholar
Jahn, H.A. and Teller, E. (1937) Stability of polyatomic molecules in degenerate electronic states. Proc. Roy. Soc., Ser. A, 161, 220–36.Google Scholar