title: An unprecedented uranyl phosphate framework in the structure of [(UO2)3(PO4)O(OH)(H2O)2](H2O).
abstract: The new uranyl phosphate [(UO2)3(PO4)O(OH)(H2O)2](H2O) (1) with an unprecedented framework structure has been synthesized at 150 and 185 degrees C. The structure (tetragonal, P4(2)/mbc, a = 14.015(1) A, c = 13.083(2) A, V = 2575.6(4) A(3), Z = 8) contains uranyl phosphate chains composed of uranyl pentagonal and hexagonal bipyramids and phosphate tetrahedra linked by sharing of polyhedral edges. The uranyl phosphate chains are aligned both along [100] and [010] and are linked into a novel framework structure involving channels along [001]. Topologically identical chains occur linked into sheets in more than a dozen uranyl phosphate minerals, but these chains have never been observed in opposing orientations and linked into a framework as in 1.
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil Engineering and Geological Sciences, University of Notre Dame, 156 Fitzpatick Hall, Notre Dame, IN 46556, USA. pburns@nd.edu
authors.forename: Peter C
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Burns
authors.forename: Cara M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Alexopoulos
authors.forename: Peter J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Hotchkiss
authors.forename: Andrew J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Locock