Synthesis and Structure Determination of the Quaternary Zinc Nitride Halides Zn2NX1−yX′y (X, X′ = Cl, Br, I; 0 < y < 1)

The quaternary series Zn2NCl1−yBry and Zn2NBr1−yIy were synthesized from solid-liquid reactions between zinc nitride and the respective zinc halides in closed ampoules, and the evolution of their crystal structures was investigated by single-crystal and powder X-ray diffraction. Zn2NX1−yX′y (X, X′ = Cl, Br, I) adopts the anti-β-NaFeO2 motif in which each nitride ion is tetrahedrally coordinated by four zinc cations, and the halide anions are located in the voids of the skeleton formed by corner-sharing [NZn4] tetrahedra. While Zn2NCl1−yBry crystallizes in the acentric orthorhombic space group Pna21 (No. 33), isotypic to Zn2NX (X = Cl, Br), the structure of Zn2NBr1−yIy is a function of the iodide concentration, namely, Zn2NBr (Pna21) for low iodine content and Zn2NI (Pnma) for higher (y ≥ 0.38).