title: The topotactic reduction of Sr3Fe2O5Cl2-square planar Fe(II) in an extended oxyhalide.
abstract: The topotactic reduction of the oxychloride Sr(3)Fe(2)O(5)Cl(2) with LiH results in the formation of Sr(3)Fe(2)O(4)Cl(2). Neutron powder diffraction data show that Sr(3)Fe(2)O(4)Cl(2) adopts a body-centered tetragonal crystal structure (I4/mmm, a = 4.008(1) Å, c = 22.653(1) Å at 388 K) with anion vacancies located within the SrO layer of the phase. This leads to a structure consisting of infinite sheets of corner-sharing Fe(II)O(4) square planes. Variable-temperature neutron diffraction data show that Sr(3)Fe(2)O(4)Cl(2) adopts G-type antiferromagnetic order below T(N) ∼ 378(10) K with an ordered moment of 2.81(9) μ(B) per iron center at 5 K consistent with the presence of high-spin Fe(II). The observed structural and chemical selectivity of the reduction reaction is discussed. The contrast between the structure of Sr(3)Fe(2)O(4)Cl(2) and the isoelectronic all-oxide analogue (Sr(3)Fe(2)O(5)) suggests that by careful selection of substrate phases, the topotactic reduction of complex transition metal oxychlorides can lead to the preparation of novel anion-deficient phases with unique transition metal-oxygen sublattices which cannot be prepared via the reduction of all-oxide substrates.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Oxford, Inorganic Chemistry Laboratory, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3QR, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Edward
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Dixon
authors.forename: Michael A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Hayward