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Sr4−xNb17O26 (x=0.0, 0.3) and Eu4−xNb17O26 (x = 0.3) were synthesised from SrCO3/Eu2O3 and Nb2O5 in a vacuum furnace at temperatures up to 1600°C (1500°C for Eu) using acetylene soot or Nb as reducing agents. The synthetic studies show that these phases are only formed via an intermediate disordered ‘phase’ (or phasoid). Sr4−xNb17O26 and Eu4−xNb17O26 are isostructural with Ba4Nb17O26 and crystallise in space group P 4/m (83) with the unit cell parameters for x=0.3: a=12.023(l) A, c=4.1411(4) A and a=12.015(2) A c=4.1351l) A, Z = 1, respectively. The crystal structure can be described as an intergrowth between ANbO3 and NbO. Characteristic building blocks are quadruple chains of corner-sharing Nb6-octahedra. ?The structures of Sr4−xNb17O26 and Eu4−xNb17O26 were refined using X-ray powder diffraction and neutron diffraction data (only Sr4−xNb17O26). The Rietveld refiniments and microanalyses showed x in Eu4−xNb17O26 to be 0.3(l) while the Sr analogue both x= 0.0(1) and 0.3(1) were found. High resolution electron microscopy studies showed that the compounds frequently contained structural defects. The magnetic susceptibility of Eu4−xNb17O26 (x=0.3) shows a Curie-Weiss behaviour, with a magnetic moment in good agreement with the expected μeff=7.9 μB for Eu2+/ The Sr analogie is temperature-independent paramagnetic at room temperature, Sr4−xNb17O26 (x=0.3) and Eu4−xNb17O26 (x=0.3) are metallic, with a resistivity increasing with temperature.

Powder samples of the reduced oxoniobates Eu0.7NbO3, EuNbO3, Eu2Nb5O9, EuNb8O14 and BaNb8O14 have been synthesised. EuNbO3 and Eu0.7NbO3 adopt the perovskite type structure (space group Pm3m) with unit cell parameters a = 4.021(1) and 3.981(3) A , respectively. Eu2Nb5O9 exhibits an intergrowth structure which can be described as alternating slabs of NbO and EuNbO3. It crystallises in P4 mmm with a = 4.131(1) and c = 12.043(5) A . EuNb8O14 and the here synthesised modification of BaNb8O14 is isostructural with SrNb8O14. The structures of EuNb8O14 and BaNb8O14 have been refined from X-ray powder diffraction data with the Rietveld technique. They have the unit cell parameters a = 9.2272(1), b = 10.2647(2), c = 5.9381(1) and a = 9.3451(1), b = 10.2689(2), c = 5.9470(4) A , (space group Pbam), respectively. In all the studied compounds AO12 cuboctahedra (A = Eu, Ba) form either chains (in ANb8O14), double layers (in Eu2Nb5O9) or three-dimensional nets (in EuNbO3 and Eu0.7NbO3). Magnetic susceptibility measurements show temperature independent paramagnetism for BaNb8O14, while the susceptibilities of the Eu niobates follow Curie-Weiss laws with effective magnetic moments in good agreement with the expected μeff = 7.9 μB for Eu2+. Eu0.7NbO3 and Eu1.0NbO3 exhibit ferromagnetic ordering below 4 K. BaNb8O14 and EuNb8O14 are semiconductors, while Eu2Nb5O9, EuNbO3 and Eu0.7NbO3 are metallic.