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Carbonates containing CO4 groups as building blocks have recently been discovered. A new orthocarbonate, Sr2CO4 is synthesized at 92 GPa and at a temperature of 2500 K. Its crystal structure was determined by in situ synchrotron single‐crystal X‐ray diffraction, selecting a grain from a polycrystalline sample. Strontium orthocarbonate crystallizes in the orthorhombic crystal system (space group Pnma) with CO4, SrO9 and SrO11 polyhedra as the main building blocks. It is isostructural to Ca2CO4. DFT calculations reproduce the experimental findings very well and have, therefore, been used to predict the equation of state, Raman and IR spectra, and to assist in the discussion of bonding in this compound., A new orthocarbonate, Sr2CO4, was synthesized under extreme pressure and temperature conditions of 92 GPa and 2500 K, respectively. The crystal structure of the compound s fully characterized in situ by synchrotron single‐crystal X‐ray diffraction and DFT calculations were employed to provide insight into its equation of state, Raman and IR spectra, and bonding. image

High-pressure single-crystal to 20 GPa and powder diffraction measurements to 50 GPa, show that the structure of Pb2SnO4strongly distorts on compression with an elongation of one axis. A structural phase transition occurs between 10 GPa and 12 GPa, with a change of space group fromPbamtoPnam. The resistivity decreases by more than six orders of magnitude when pressure is increased from ambient conditions to 50 GPa. This insulator-to-semiconductor transition is accompanied by a reversible appearance change from transparent to opaque. Density functional theory-based calculations show that at ambient conditions the channels in the structure host the stereochemically-active Pb 6s2lone electron pairs. On compression the lone electron pairs form bonds between Pb2+ions. Also provided is an assignment of irreducible representations to the experimentally observed Raman bands.

A new diffractometer is now available to the general user community at the ESRF. The new diffractometer is a side station of the high-resolution inelastic X-ray scattering spectrometer on beamline ID28 and is located in the same experimental hutch. Both instruments can be operated simultaneously. The new diffractometer combines a fast and low-noise hybrid pixel detector with a variable diffraction geometry. The beam spot on the sample is 50 µm × 50 µm, where focusing is achieved by a combination of Be lenses and a KB mirror. Wavelengths from 0.5 to 0.8 Å can be used for the diffraction experiments. The setup is compatible with a variety of sample environments, allowing studies under non-ambient conditions. The diffractometer is optimized to allow a rapid survey of reciprocal space and diffuse scattering for the identification of regions of interest for subsequent inelastic scattering studies, but can also be employed as a fully independent station for structural studies from both powder and single-crystal diffraction experiments. Several software packages for the transformation and visualization of diffraction data are available. An analysis of data collected with the new diffractometer shows that the ID28 side station is a state-of-the-art instrument for structural investigations using diffraction and diffuse scattering experiments.

The decomposition of hexacarbonyltungsten, W(CO)6, has been studied. The decomposition was induced by heating W(CO)6in an autoclave at 523 K and pressures up to 1.8 MPa, and by laser heating in a diamond anvil cell at pressures between 5 and 18 GPa. The products have been characterized using synchrotron X-ray diffraction, pair distribution function analysis, Raman spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy. Decomposition in the autoclave at the lower pressures resulted in the formation of a metastable tungsten carbide, W2C, with an average particle size of 1–2 nm, and an unidentified nanocrystalline tungsten oxide and nanocrystalline graphite with average particle sizes of 1–2 and 11 nm, respectively. The existence of nanocrystalline graphite was deduced from micro-Raman spectra and the graphite particle size was extracted from the intensities of the Raman modes. The high-pressure decomposition products obtained in the diamond anvil cell are the monoclinic tungsten oxide phase WO2and the high-pressure phase W3O8(I). The approximate average size of the graphite particles formed here was 6–8 nm. The bulk modulus of W(CO)6isB0≃ 13 GPa.

Synchrotron powder diffraction data from methylammonium tin bromide, CH3NH3SnBr3, taken as a function of temperature, reveal the existence of a phase between 230 and 188 K crystallizing inPmc21,a= 5.8941 (2),b= 8.3862 (2),c= 8.2406 (2) Å. Strong ferroelectric distortions of the octahedra, associated with stereochemical activity of the Sn 5s2lone pair, are evident. A group analysis and decomposition of the distortion modes of the inorganic framework with respect to the cubic parent is given. The primary order parameters driving this upper transition appear to be an in-phase tilt (rotation) of the octahedra coupled to a ferroelectric mode. The precise nature of the lower-temperature phase remains uncertain, although it appears likely to be triclinic. Density-functional theory calculations on such a triclinic cell suggest that directional bonding of the amine group to the halide cage is coupled to the stereochemical activity of the Sn lone pairviathe Br atoms,i.e.that the bonding from the organic component may have a strong effect on the inorganic sublattice (principallyviaswitching the direction of the lone pair with little to no energy cost).

The compressibilities of the nitridosilicate SrYb[Si4N7] and the oxonitridoaluminosilicates MYb[Si4−x Al x O x N7−x ] (x = 2; M = Sr, Ba) were investigated by in situ high-pressure X-ray powder diffraction. Pressures up to 42 GPa were generated using the diamond–anvil cell technique. The title compounds are structurally stable to the highest pressure obtained. A fit of a third-order Birch–Murnaghan equation-of-state to the p–V data results in V 0 = 302.91 (6) Å3, B 0 = 176 (2) GPa and B′ = 4.4 (2) for SrYb[Si4N7]; V 0 = 310.4 (1) Å3, B 0 = 161 (2) GPa and B′ = 4.6 (2) for SrYb[Si4−x Al x O x N7−x ]; and V 0 = 317.3 (5) Å3, B 0 = 168 (2) GPa and B′ = 4.7 (2) for BaYb[Si4−x Al x O x N7−x ]. While the linear compressibilities of the a and c axes of BaYb[Si4−x Al x O x N7−x ] are very similar up to 30 GPa, distinct differences were observed for SrYb[Si4N7] and SrYb[Si4−x Al x O x N7−x ], with the c axis being the most compressible axis. In all of the investigated compounds the bulk compressibility is dominated by the compression behaviour of the tetrahedral network, while the size of the substituted cation plays a minor role.

The structural compression mechanism of Ce4[Si4O3 + x N7 − x ]Cl1 − x O x , x ≃ 0.2, was investigated by in situ single-crystal synchrotron X-ray diffraction at pressures of 3.0, 8.5 and 8.6 GPa using the diamond–anvil cell technique. On increasing pressure the low-pressure cubic structure first undergoes only minor structural changes. Between 8.5 and 8.6 GPa a first-order phase transition occurs, accompanied by a change of the single-crystal colour from light orange to dark red. The main structural mechanisms, leading to a volume reduction of about 5% at the phase transition, are an increase in and a rearrangement of the Ce coordination, the loss of the Ce2, Ce3 split position, and a bending of some of the inter-polyhedral Si—N—Si angles in the arrangement of the corner-sharing Si tetrahedra. The latter is responsible for the short c axis of the orthorhombic high-pressure structure compared with the cell parameter of the cubic low-pressure structure.

Density functional theory-based calculations have been used to demonstrate that the aplanarity of CO_{3} groups in some carbonates such as dolomite, CaMg(CO_3)_2, aragonite, CaCO_3, and norsethite, BaMg(CO_3)_2, is a ground-state property. This distortion stabilizes dolomite by ∼500 J mol^{-1}. Up to at least 6 GPa, the aplanarity of CO_3 groups in dolomite is independent of pressure. In aragonite the aplanarity increases slightly on increasing pressure, while a significant tilting of the CO_3 groups occurs. The calculations do not support previous findings of anomalously low values for the pressure derivative of the bulk moduli, B^\prime, of aragonite and dolomite. Instead, the computed pressure dependences of the unit-cell volumes correspond to B^\prime = 5.0 (5) for aragonite and B^\prime = 4 (1) for dolomite, when fitted with a third-order Birch–Murnaghan equation-of-state.

The high-pressure behavior of KIO(3) was studied up to 30 GPa using single crystal and powder x-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, second harmonic generation (SHG) experiments and density functional theory (DFT)-based calculations. Triclinic KIO(3) shows two pressure-induced structural phase transitions at 7 GPa and at 14 GPa. Single crystal x-ray diffraction at 8.7(1) GPa was employed to solve the structure of the first high-pressure phase (space group R3, a = 5.89(1) Å, α = 62.4(1)°). The bulk modulus, B, of this phase was obtained by fitting a second order Birch-Murnaghan equation of state (eos) to synchrotron x-ray powder diffraction data resulting in B(exp,second) = 67(3) GPa. The DFT model gave B(DFT,second) = 70.9 GPa, and, for a third order Birch-Murnaghan eos, B(DFT,third) = 67.9 GPa with a pressure derivative of [Formula: see text]. Both high-pressure transformations were detectable by Raman spectroscopy and the observation of second harmonic signals. The presence of strong SHG signals shows that all high-pressure phases are acentric. By using different pressure media, we showed that the transition pressures are very strongly influenced by shear stresses. Earlier work on low- and high-temperature transitions was complemented by low-temperature heat capacity measurements. We found no evidence for the presence of an orientational glass, in contrast to earlier dielectric studies, but consistent with earlier low-temperature diffraction studies.