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Acta Crystallographica Section E: Crystallographic Communications logoLink to Acta Crystallographica Section E: Crystallographic Communications
. 2015 Oct 14;71(Pt 11):1325–1327. doi: 10.1107/S205698901501899X

Crystal structures of cristobalite-type and coesite-type PON redetermined on the basis of single-crystal X-ray diffraction data

Maxim Bykov a,*, Elena Bykova a, Vadim Dyadkin b, Dominik Baumann c, Wolfgang Schnick c, Leonid Dubrovinsky a, Natalia Dubrovinskaia d
PMCID: PMC4645013  PMID: 26594502

The crystal structures of two phospho­rus oxonitride polymorphs (cristobalite- and coesite-type) were redetermined by means of single-crystal X-ray diffraction data.

Keywords: crystal structure, phospho­rus oxonitride, silica analogues, redetermination

Abstract

Hitherto, phospho­rus oxonitride (PON) could not be obtained in the form of single crystals and only powder diffraction experiments were feasible for structure studies. In the present work we have synthesized two polymorphs of phospho­rus oxonitride, cristobalite-type (cri-PON) and coesite-type (coe-PON), in the form of single crystals and reinvestigated their crystal structures by means of in house and synchrotron single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The crystal structures of cri-PON and coe-PON are built from PO2N2 tetra­hedral units, each with a statistical distribution of oxygen and nitro­gen atoms. The crystal structure of the coe-PON phase has the space group C2/c with seven atomic sites in the asymmetric unit [two P and three (N,O) sites on general positions, one (N,O) site on an inversion centre and one (N,O) site on a twofold rotation axis], while the cri-PON phase possesses tetra­gonal I-42d symmetry with two independent atoms in the asymmetric unit [the P atom on a fourfold inversion axis and the (N,O) site on a twofold rotation axis]. In comparison with previous structure determinations from powder data, all atoms were refined with anisotropic displacement parameters, leading to higher precision in terms of bond lengths and angles.

Chemical context  

The pseudo-binary system P3N5/P2O5 has been investigated intensively because the properties of related ceramic materials are promising for industrial applications. A mid-member of this system is phospho­rus oxonitride (PON), whose chemical stability is essential for its use as an insulator or for fireproofing. This compound has attracted significant attention as a ternary base compound of electrolytes for rechargeable thin-film Li/Li-ion batteries. Phospho­rus oxonitride is an isoelectronic analogue of silica (SiO2) with the charge-balanced substitution P5+ + N3− = Si4+ + O2−. The crystal structures of the polymorphic forms of SiO2 and PON are built of tetra­hedral SiO4 and PO2N2 units, respectively. At present, five modifications of PON have been identified. Four of them are isostructural to known silica polymorphs, viz. α-quartz- (Léger et al., 1999), β-cristobalite- (Léger et al., 2001), moganite- (Chateau et al., 1999) and coesite-type (Baumann et al., 2015). The fifth one, δ-PON, has a structure type different from any of the silica modifications (Baumann et al., 2012). A rich variety of polymorphs is a result of the many ways in which the tetra­hedra can be linked to form corner-sharing networks. Most of the phases in the P3N5/P2O5 system are usually obtained either in an amorphous state or in the form of powders consisting of very small crystallites. We succeeded in synthesizing single crystals of pure cristobalite- (cri) and coesite-type (coe) PON of a size suitable for single-crystal X-ray diffraction and report here the results of the structure refinements.

Structural commentary  

The structure of cri-PON (Fig. 1 a) can be derived from that of β-cristobalite by tilting each PO2N2 tetra­hedron about the Inline graphic axes alternately clockwise and anti­clockwise. This leads to the lowering of symmetry from Fd Inline graphic m to I Inline graphic2d, however, the topology remains the same. The length of the P—(O,N) bond in cri-PON is 1.5796 (10) Å, which is in a good agreement with the average of expected P—N (1.626 Å) and P—O (1.537 Å) distances (Huminicki & Hawthorne, 2002). All P—(O,N) distances within the PO2N2 units are equal, but there is a noticeable (O,N)—P—(O,N) angle variation between 107.86 (2) and 112.73 (5)° due to the compression of the tetra­hedra along the c-axis direction.

Figure 1.

Figure 1

Crystal structures of cri-PON (a) and coe-PON (b) shown in polyhedral representation. Displacement parameters are drawn at the 50% probability level. Mixed (N,O) sites are shown in red; P atoms are shown in brown.

The structure of coe-PON (Fig. 1 b) is isotypic with coesite (SiO2) (Angel et al., 2003). The framework of coe-PON is constructed of four-member rings comprised of corner-sharing PO2N2 tetra­hedra. These rings are linked in such a manner that crankshaft-like chains are formed. The average P—(O,N) distance in coe-PON (1.572 Å) is slightly shorter than that of 1.581 Å reported by Baumann et al. (2015) likely due to the difference in temperatures at which the experiments were conducted. The tetra­hedra are irregularly distorted, with P—(O,N) distances varying between 1.5530 (9) and 1.588 (3) Å, and (O,N)—P—(O,N) angles between 106.79 (19) and 112.0 (2)°.

In comparison with the refinements from powder diffraction data (Léger et al., 2001; Baumann et al., 2015), single-crystal diffraction data revealed a detailed electron density map, which allowed us in addition to a substitutional O-N disorder, to detect a possible positional disorder (for details see Refinement section), which may affect physical properties of coe-PON.

Synthesis and crystallisation  

Cristobalite-type PON was synthesized from phospho­ric tri­amide by a two-step condensation process. POCl3 (99%, Sigma Aldrich) was reacted with liquid NH3 (5.0, Air Liquide) to yield a mixture of PO(NH2)3 and NH4Cl, which was subsequently heated to 893 K for 5 h in a stream of dry ammonia. The amorphous reaction product was crystallized at 1023 K for 7 d in an evacuated fused silica ampoule, yielding pure cristobalite-type PON. Coesite-type PON was obtained by high-pressure/high-temperature reaction of cri-PON in a modified Walker-type multi-anvil apparatus. The starting material was tightly packed in a h-BN capsule, which was centered in a MgO:Cr octa­hedron (Ceramic Substrates & Components, Isle of Wight, UK) with an edge length of 10 mm. The latter was subsequently compressed between eight truncated tungsten carbide cubes (5 mm truncation edge length, Hawedia, Marklkofen, Germany) using a 1000 t hydraulic press (Voggenreiter, Mainleus, Germany). The sample was compressed to 15.5 GPa, the temperature raised to 1573 K within 15 min and held constant for 60 min. The sample was cooled by turning off the heating, decompressed and mechanically isolated.

Refinement  

Crystal data, data collection and structure refinement details are summarized in Table 1. Structure refinements of both coe-PON and cri-PON were performed using occupancies of oxygen and nitro­gen atoms fixed to 0.5 for each site. As a result of the very similar scattering powers of N and O atoms, an attempt to refine the occupancies resulted in unreliable values with large standard uncertainties. The cri-PON crystal was twinned by inversion with an equal amount of the two twin domains. The refinement of the coe-PON structure revealed a residual electron density peak of 1.41 e·Å−3 at a distance 1.22 Å from atom P2 and 1.50, 1.65 and 1.65 Å from atoms O1, O2 and O5, respectively. This density may be explained by a static disorder of the P2 atom between two positions. The disorder is, however, too weak to give additional reliable residual density peaks for the assignments of oxygen and nitro­gen atoms.

Table 1. Experimental details.

  cri-PON coe-PON
Crystal data
Chemical formula PON PON
M r 60.98 60.98
Crystal system, space group Tetragonal, I Inline graphic2d Monoclinic, C2/c
Temperature (K) 293 100
a, b, c (Å) 4.6135 (2), 4.6135 (2), 6.9991 (5) 6.9464 (6), 12.0340 (4), 6.9463 (5)
α, β, γ (°) 90, 90, 90 90, 119.914 (10), 90
V3) 148.97 (2) 503.30 (7)
Z 4 16
Radiation type Mo Kα Synchrotron, λ = 0.69428 Å
μ (mm−1) 1.24 1.35
Crystal size (mm) 0.02 × 0.02 × 0.02 0.02 × 0.02 × 0.02
 
Data collection
Diffractometer Bruker SMART APEX CCD PILATUS@SNBL
Absorption correction Multi-scan (CrysAlis PRO; Agilent, 2014) Multi-scan (CrysAlis PRO; Agilent, 2014)
T min, T max 0.791, 1.000 0.949, 1.000
No. of measured, independent and observed [I > 2σ(I)] reflections 445, 92, 92 2415, 535, 469
R int 0.016 0.038
(sin θ/λ)max−1) 0.666 0.640
 
Refinement
R[F 2 > 2σ(F 2)], wR(F 2), S 0.016, 0.043, 1.45 0.037, 0.102, 1.05
No. of reflections 92 535
No. of parameters 8 57
Δρmax, Δρmin (e Å−3) 0.21, −0.28 1.41, −0.54
Absolute structure Refined as a perfect inversion twin.
Absolute structure parameter 0.5

Computer programs: CrysAlis PRO (Agilent, 2014), SHELXS (Sheldrick, 2008), SHELXL2014/7 (Sheldrick, 2015), DIAMOND (Brandenburg, 2006) and publCIF (Westrip, 2010).

Supplementary Material

Crystal structure: contains datablock(s) coe-PON, New_Global_Publ_Block, cri-PON. DOI: 10.1107/S205698901501899X/wm5203sup1.cif

e-71-01325-sup1.cif (120.1KB, cif)

Structure factors: contains datablock(s) cri-PON. DOI: 10.1107/S205698901501899X/wm5203cri-PONsup2.hkl

Structure factors: contains datablock(s) coe-PON. DOI: 10.1107/S205698901501899X/wm5203coe-PONsup3.hkl

CCDC references: 1430221, 1430220

Additional supporting information: crystallographic information; 3D view; checkCIF report

Acknowledgments

We gratefully acknowledge financial support by the Fonds der Chemischen Industrie (FCI) and the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) (priority program SPP1236, project SCHN 377–13). ND thanks the German Research Foundation for financial support through the DFG Heisenberg Program. ND and LD gratefully acknowledge the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF, Germany) for funding.

supplementary crystallographic information

(cri-PON) Phosphorus oxonitride. Crystal data

NOP Dx = 2.719 Mg m3
Mr = 60.98 Mo Kα radiation, λ = 0.71069 Å
Tetragonal, I42d Cell parameters from 431 reflections
a = 4.6135 (2) Å θ = 5.3–28.2°
c = 6.9991 (5) Å µ = 1.24 mm1
V = 148.97 (2) Å3 T = 293 K
Z = 4 Prism, colourless
F(000) = 120 0.02 × 0.02 × 0.02 mm

(cri-PON) Phosphorus oxonitride. Data collection

Three-circle diffractometer 92 independent reflections
Radiation source: rotating-anode X-ray tube, Rigaku Rotor Flex FR-D 92 reflections with I > 2σ(I)
Detector resolution: 16.6 pixels mm-1 Rint = 0.016
ω scans θmax = 28.3°, θmin = 5.3°
Absorption correction: multi-scan (CrysAlis PRO; Agilent, 2014) h = −5→5
Tmin = 0.791, Tmax = 1.000 k = −5→6
445 measured reflections l = −5→9

(cri-PON) Phosphorus oxonitride. Refinement

Refinement on F2 0 restraints
Least-squares matrix: full w = 1/[σ2(Fo2) + (0.0229P)2 + 0.0508P] where P = (Fo2 + 2Fc2)/3
R[F2 > 2σ(F2)] = 0.016 (Δ/σ)max < 0.001
wR(F2) = 0.043 Δρmax = 0.21 e Å3
S = 1.45 Δρmin = −0.28 e Å3
92 reflections Absolute structure: Refined as a perfect inversion twin.
8 parameters Absolute structure parameter: 0.5

(cri-PON) Phosphorus oxonitride. Special details

Geometry. All e.s.d.'s (except the e.s.d. in the dihedral angle between two l.s. planes) are estimated using the full covariance matrix. The cell e.s.d.'s are taken into account individually in the estimation of e.s.d.'s in distances, angles and torsion angles; correlations between e.s.d.'s in cell parameters are only used when they are defined by crystal symmetry. An approximate (isotropic) treatment of cell e.s.d.'s is used for estimating e.s.d.'s involving l.s. planes.
Refinement. Refined as a 2-component perfect inversion twin.

(cri-PON) Phosphorus oxonitride. Fractional atomic coordinates and isotropic or equivalent isotropic displacement parameters (Å2)

x y z Uiso*/Ueq Occ. (<1)
P 0.5000 0.5000 0.0000 0.0106 (3)
N 0.3630 (5) 0.2500 0.1250 0.0155 (5) 0.5
O 0.3630 (5) 0.2500 0.1250 0.0155 (5) 0.5

(cri-PON) Phosphorus oxonitride. Atomic displacement parameters (Å2)

U11 U22 U33 U12 U13 U23
P 0.0112 (4) 0.0112 (4) 0.0094 (4) 0.000 0.000 0.000
N 0.0151 (11) 0.0149 (12) 0.0165 (9) 0.000 0.000 0.0065 (10)
O 0.0151 (11) 0.0149 (12) 0.0165 (9) 0.000 0.000 0.0065 (10)

(cri-PON) Phosphorus oxonitride. Geometric parameters (Å, º)

P—Oi 1.5796 (10) P—Oiii 1.5796 (10)
P—Ni 1.5796 (10) P—Niii 1.5796 (10)
P—Oii 1.5796 (10) P—N 1.5796 (10)
P—Nii 1.5796 (10) N—Piv 1.5796 (10)
Oi—P—Ni 0.0 Ni—P—Niii 107.86 (2)
Oi—P—Oii 107.86 (2) Oii—P—Niii 112.7
Ni—P—Oii 107.86 (2) Nii—P—Niii 112.73 (5)
Oi—P—Nii 107.9 Oiii—P—Niii 0.0
Ni—P—Nii 107.86 (2) Oi—P—N 112.7
Oii—P—Nii 0.0 Ni—P—N 112.73 (5)
Oi—P—Oiii 107.86 (2) Oii—P—N 107.9
Ni—P—Oiii 107.86 (2) Nii—P—N 107.86 (2)
Oii—P—Oiii 112.73 (5) Oiii—P—N 107.9
Nii—P—Oiii 112.73 (5) Niii—P—N 107.86 (2)
Oi—P—Niii 107.9 P—N—Piv 132.83 (16)

Symmetry codes: (i) −x+1, −y+1, z; (ii) y, −x+1, −z; (iii) −y+1, x, −z; (iv) x, −y+1/2, −z+1/4.

(coe-PON) Phosphorus oxonitride. Crystal data

NOP F(000) = 480
Mr = 60.98 Dx = 3.219 Mg m3
Monoclinic, C2/c Synchrotron radiation, λ = 0.69428 Å
a = 6.9464 (6) Å Cell parameters from 1202 reflections
b = 12.0340 (4) Å θ = 3.3–26.3°
c = 6.9463 (5) Å µ = 1.35 mm1
β = 119.914 (10)° T = 100 K
V = 503.30 (7) Å3 Prism, colourless
Z = 16 0.02 × 0.02 × 0.02 mm

(coe-PON) Phosphorus oxonitride. Data collection

PILATUS@SNBL diffractometer 535 independent reflections
Radiation source: Beamline BM1A, SNBL ESRF, Grenoble, France 469 reflections with I > 2σ(I)
Detector resolution: 5.8 pixels mm-1 Rint = 0.038
φ scans θmax = 26.4°, θmin = 3.3°
Absorption correction: multi-scan (CrysAlis PRO; Agilent, 2014) h = −8→8
Tmin = 0.949, Tmax = 1.000 k = −15→15
2415 measured reflections l = −8→8

(coe-PON) Phosphorus oxonitride. Refinement

Refinement on F2 57 parameters
Least-squares matrix: full 0 restraints
R[F2 > 2σ(F2)] = 0.037 w = 1/[σ2(Fo2) + (0.054P)2 + 4.3556P] where P = (Fo2 + 2Fc2)/3
wR(F2) = 0.102 (Δ/σ)max < 0.001
S = 1.05 Δρmax = 1.41 e Å3
535 reflections Δρmin = −0.54 e Å3

(coe-PON) Phosphorus oxonitride. Special details

Geometry. All e.s.d.'s (except the e.s.d. in the dihedral angle between two l.s. planes) are estimated using the full covariance matrix. The cell e.s.d.'s are taken into account individually in the estimation of e.s.d.'s in distances, angles and torsion angles; correlations between e.s.d.'s in cell parameters are only used when they are defined by crystal symmetry. An approximate (isotropic) treatment of cell e.s.d.'s is used for estimating e.s.d.'s involving l.s. planes.

(coe-PON) Phosphorus oxonitride. Fractional atomic coordinates and isotropic or equivalent isotropic displacement parameters (Å2)

x y z Uiso*/Ueq Occ. (<1)
P1 0.28266 (16) 0.09026 (8) 0.04006 (16) 0.0067 (4)
P2 0.31812 (17) 0.35749 (7) 0.42525 (17) 0.0084 (4)
N1 0.2117 (5) 0.4603 (2) 0.4818 (6) 0.0148 (8) 0.5
O1 0.2117 (5) 0.4603 (2) 0.4818 (6) 0.0148 (8) 0.5
N2 0.2500 0.2500 0.5000 0.0116 (10) 0.5
O2 0.2500 0.2500 0.5000 0.0116 (10) 0.5
N3 0.2322 (6) 0.3532 (3) 0.1704 (5) 0.0188 (8) 0.5
O3 0.2322 (6) 0.3532 (3) 0.1704 (5) 0.0188 (8) 0.5
N4 0.5000 0.1336 (3) 0.2500 0.0110 (10) 0.5
O4 0.5000 0.1336 (3) 0.2500 0.0110 (10) 0.5
N5 0.0792 (5) 0.1273 (3) 0.0656 (6) 0.0186 (8) 0.5
O5 0.0792 (5) 0.1273 (3) 0.0656 (6) 0.0186 (8) 0.5

(coe-PON) Phosphorus oxonitride. Atomic displacement parameters (Å2)

U11 U22 U33 U12 U13 U23
P1 0.0054 (7) 0.0057 (6) 0.0070 (7) 0.0003 (3) 0.0016 (5) 0.0013 (3)
P2 0.0075 (7) 0.0071 (6) 0.0095 (7) 0.0000 (4) 0.0035 (5) 0.0011 (4)
N1 0.0191 (18) 0.0047 (15) 0.0250 (19) 0.0010 (12) 0.0142 (16) −0.0018 (12)
O1 0.0191 (18) 0.0047 (15) 0.0250 (19) 0.0010 (12) 0.0142 (16) −0.0018 (12)
N2 0.013 (2) 0.006 (2) 0.016 (2) −0.0007 (16) 0.008 (2) 0.0032 (17)
O2 0.013 (2) 0.006 (2) 0.016 (2) −0.0007 (16) 0.008 (2) 0.0032 (17)
N3 0.028 (2) 0.0177 (16) 0.0062 (18) −0.0054 (14) 0.0048 (16) 0.0015 (13)
O3 0.028 (2) 0.0177 (16) 0.0062 (18) −0.0054 (14) 0.0048 (16) 0.0015 (13)
N4 0.008 (2) 0.009 (2) 0.013 (2) 0.000 0.003 (2) 0.000
O4 0.008 (2) 0.009 (2) 0.013 (2) 0.000 0.003 (2) 0.000
N5 0.0034 (17) 0.0255 (18) 0.0213 (19) 0.0014 (13) 0.0020 (15) −0.0079 (15)
O5 0.0034 (17) 0.0255 (18) 0.0213 (19) 0.0014 (13) 0.0020 (15) −0.0079 (15)

(coe-PON) Phosphorus oxonitride. Geometric parameters (Å, º)

P1—O3i 1.568 (3) P2—O5iii 1.584 (3)
P1—N3i 1.568 (3) P2—N5iii 1.584 (3)
P1—O1ii 1.573 (3) P2—N1 1.588 (3)
P1—N1ii 1.573 (3) N1—P1iv 1.574 (3)
P1—N5 1.574 (3) N2—P2v 1.5530 (9)
P1—N4 1.5755 (17) N3—P1i 1.568 (3)
P2—N2 1.5530 (9) N4—P1vi 1.5755 (17)
P2—N3 1.562 (3) N5—P2vii 1.584 (3)
O3i—P1—N3i 0.0 N2—P2—N3 110.10 (13)
O3i—P1—O1ii 109.55 (17) N2—P2—O5iii 109.69 (13)
N3i—P1—O1ii 109.55 (17) N3—P2—O5iii 112.0 (2)
O3i—P1—N1ii 109.55 (17) N2—P2—N5iii 109.69 (13)
N3i—P1—N1ii 109.55 (17) N3—P2—N5iii 112.0 (2)
O1ii—P1—N1ii 0.0 O5iii—P2—N5iii 0.0
O3i—P1—N5 109.7 (2) N2—P2—N1 108.03 (12)
N3i—P1—N5 109.7 (2) N3—P2—N1 110.13 (18)
O1ii—P1—N5 111.04 (17) O5iii—P2—N1 106.79 (19)
N1ii—P1—N5 111.04 (17) N5iii—P2—N1 106.79 (19)
O3i—P1—N4 107.83 (16) P1iv—N1—P2 135.5 (2)
N3i—P1—N4 107.83 (16) P2—N2—P2v 180.0
O1ii—P1—N4 111.09 (19) P2—N3—P1i 148.5 (2)
N1ii—P1—N4 111.09 (19) P1vi—N4—P1 141.3 (3)
N5—P1—N4 107.57 (15) P1—N5—P2vii 141.3 (2)

Symmetry codes: (i) −x+1/2, −y+1/2, −z; (ii) −x+1/2, y−1/2, −z+1/2; (iii) x+1/2, −y+1/2, z+1/2; (iv) −x+1/2, y+1/2, −z+1/2; (v) −x+1/2, −y+1/2, −z+1; (vi) −x+1, y, −z+1/2; (vii) x−1/2, −y+1/2, z−1/2.

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Associated Data

This section collects any data citations, data availability statements, or supplementary materials included in this article.

Supplementary Materials

Crystal structure: contains datablock(s) coe-PON, New_Global_Publ_Block, cri-PON. DOI: 10.1107/S205698901501899X/wm5203sup1.cif

e-71-01325-sup1.cif (120.1KB, cif)

Structure factors: contains datablock(s) cri-PON. DOI: 10.1107/S205698901501899X/wm5203cri-PONsup2.hkl

Structure factors: contains datablock(s) coe-PON. DOI: 10.1107/S205698901501899X/wm5203coe-PONsup3.hkl

CCDC references: 1430221, 1430220

Additional supporting information: crystallographic information; 3D view; checkCIF report


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