DOE OSTI2020
Hg(Hg7(As2Cl3)2)2 crystallizes in the monoclinic P2_1/c space group. The structure is three-dimensional and consists of two mercury molecules and one Hg7(As2Cl3)2 framework. In the Hg7(As2Cl3)2 framework, there are eight inequivalent Hg2+ sites. In the first Hg2+ site, Hg2+ is bonded to six Cl1- atoms to form edge-sharing HgCl6 octahedra. There are two shorter (2.75 Å) and four longer (2.76 Å) Hg–Cl bond lengths. In the second Hg2+ site, Hg2+ is bonded to six Cl1- atoms to form edge-sharing HgCl6 octahedra. All Hg–Cl bond lengths are 2.76 Å. In the third Hg2+ site, Hg2+ is bonded to two As+2.25- and four Cl1- atoms to form distorted HgAs2Cl4 octahedra that share corners with eight HgAs2Cl4 octahedra, corners with two AsHg3As tetrahedra, and edges with six HgCl6 octahedra. The corner-sharing octahedra tilt angles range from 16–88°. There are one shorter (2.56 Å) and one longer (2.57 Å) Hg–As bond lengths. There are a spread of Hg–Cl bond distances ranging from 3.01–3.40 Å. In the fourth Hg2+ site, Hg2+ is bonded to two As+2.25- and four Cl1- atoms to form distorted HgAs2Cl4 octahedra that share corners with eight HgAs2Cl4 octahedra, corners with two AsHg3As tetrahedra, and edges with six HgCl6 octahedra. The corner-sharing octahedra tilt angles range from 16–88°. There are one shorter (2.56 Å) and one longer (2.57 Å) Hg–As bond lengths. There are a spread of Hg–Cl bond distances ranging from 3.01–3.41 Å. In the fifth Hg2+ site, Hg2+ is bonded to two As+2.25- and four Cl1- atoms to form distorted HgAs2Cl4 octahedra that share corners with eight HgAs2Cl4 octahedra, corners with two AsHg3As tetrahedra, and edges with six HgAs2Cl4 octahedra. The corner-sharing octahedra tilt angles range from 16–88°. Both Hg–As bond lengths are 2.57 Å. There are a spread of Hg–Cl bond distances ranging from 3.01–3.41 Å. In the sixth Hg2+ site, Hg2+ is bonded to two As+2.25- and four Cl1- atoms to form distorted HgAs2Cl4 octahedra that share corners with eight HgAs2Cl4 octahedra, corners with two AsHg3As tetrahedra, and edges with six HgAs2Cl4 octahedra. The corner-sharing octahedra tilt angles range from 16–88°. Both Hg–As bond lengths are 2.56 Å. There are a spread of Hg–Cl bond distances ranging from 3.01–3.40 Å. In the seventh Hg2+ site, Hg2+ is bonded to two As+2.25- and four Cl1- atoms to form distorted HgAs2Cl4 octahedra that share corners with eight HgAs2Cl4 octahedra, corners with two AsHg3As tetrahedra, and edges with six HgCl6 octahedra. The corner-sharing octahedra tilt angles range from 16–88°. Both Hg–As bond lengths are 2.57 Å. There are a spread of Hg–Cl bond distances ranging from 3.01–3.41 Å. In the eighth Hg2+ site, Hg2+ is bonded to two As+2.25- and four Cl1- atoms to form distorted HgAs2Cl4 octahedra that share corners with eight HgAs2Cl4 octahedra, corners with two AsHg3As tetrahedra, and edges with six HgCl6 octahedra. The corner-sharing octahedra tilt angles range from 16–88°. There are one shorter (2.56 Å) and one longer (2.57 Å) Hg–As bond lengths. There are a spread of Hg–Cl bond distances ranging from 3.01–3.40 Å. There are four inequivalent As+2.25- sites. In the first As+2.25- site, As+2.25- is bonded to three Hg2+ and one As+2.25- atom to form AsHg3As tetrahedra that share corners with three HgAs2Cl4 octahedra, corners with four ClHg5 square pyramids, and corners with three AsHg3As tetrahedra. The corner-sharing octahedral tilt angles are 70°. The As–As bond length is 2.51 Å. In the second As+2.25- site, As+2.25- is bonded to three Hg2+ and one As+2.25- atom to form AsHg3As tetrahedra that share corners with three HgAs2Cl4 octahedra, corners with two ClHg5 square pyramids, corners with three AsHg3As tetrahedra, and an edgeedge with one ClHg5 square pyramid. The corner-sharing octahedral tilt angles are 74°. The As–As bond length is 2.51 Å. In the third As+2.25- site, As+2.25- is bonded to three Hg2+ and one As+2.25- atom to form AsHg3As tetrahedra that share corners with three HgAs2Cl4 octahedra, corners with four ClHg5 square pyramids, corners with three AsHg3As tetrahedra, and edges with two ClHg5 square pyramids. The corner-sharing octahedral tilt angles are 74°. In the fourth As+2.25- site, As+2.25- is bonded to three Hg2+ and one As+2.25- atom to form AsHg3As tetrahedra that share corners with three HgAs2Cl4 octahedra, corners with two ClHg5 square pyramids, corners with three AsHg3As tetrahedra, and edges with three ClHg5 square pyramids. The corner-sharing octahedral tilt angles are 70°. There are six inequivalent Cl1- sites. In the first Cl1- site, Cl1- is bonded in a 5-coordinate geometry to five Hg2+ atoms. In the second Cl1- site, Cl1- is bonded to five Hg2+ atoms to form distorted ClHg5 square pyramids that share corners with five ClHg5 square pyramids, corners with four AsHg3As tetrahedra, and edges with two AsHg3As tetrahedra. In the third Cl1- site, Cl1- is bonded in a 5-coordinate geometry to five Hg2+ atoms. In the fourth Cl1- site, Cl1- is bonded to five Hg2+ atoms to form distorted ClHg5 square pyramids that share corners with seven ClHg5 square pyramids, corners with four AsHg3As tetrahedra, edges with two equivalent ClHg5 square pyramids, and edges with two AsHg3As tetrahedra. In the fifth Cl1- site, Cl1- is bonded to five Hg2+ atoms to form distorted ClHg5 square pyramids that share corners with seven ClHg5 square pyramids, corners with four AsHg3As tetrahedra, edges with two equivalent ClHg5 square pyramids, and edges with two AsHg3As tetrahedra. In the sixth Cl1- site, Cl1- is bonded in a 5-coordinate geometry to five Hg2+ atoms.