title: LaZn(12.37 (1)), a zinc-deficient variant of the NaZn(13) structure type.
abstract: The title compound (lanthanum dodecazinc), LaZn(12.37 (1)), is confirmed to be a nonstoichiometric (zinc-deficient) modification of the NaZn(13) structure type, in which one Zn atom (Wyckoff site 8b, site symmetry m[Formula: see text]) has a fractional site occupancy of 0.372 (11). The other Zn atom (96i, m) and the La atom (8a, 432) are fully occupied. The coordination polyhedra of the Zn atoms are distorted icosa-hedra, whereas the La atoms are surrounded by 24 Zn atoms, forming pseudo-Frank-Kasper polyhedra. Electronic structure calculations indicate that Zn-Zn bonding is much stronger than La-Zn bonding.
authors.forename: Igor
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Oshchapovsky
authors.forename: Volodymyr
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Pavlyuk
authors.forename: Grygoriy
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Dmytriv
authors.forename: Fraser
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: White
references.citation: Acta Crystallogr A. 2008 Jan;64(Pt 1):112-22
references.pmid: 18156677