Synthesis and Structures of A Series of Novel Rare Earth Transition Metal Sulfates

Seven new rare earth transition metal sulfates were synthesized by hydrothermal reactions under conditions slightly above the critical point of water. Their crystal structures were determined from single crystal X-ray data. The compositions of the new compounds can be represented by two general formulae: REM(OH)3(SO4) and RE2M(OH)3(SO4)2F (H2O) with RE = Gd, Tb, Dy; M = Ni, Cu. Three different crystal structure types were found for the formula REM(OH)3 (SO4). The structures of the new compounds all feature infinite chains of REOn coordination polyhedra, which are connected to chains of CuO6 of NiO6 octahedra. The limited size range of the rare earth cations observed in these compounds is most likely because of interactions between the octahedral chains and the chains of REOn polyhedra. The new compounds are closely related to the known yttrium transition metal sulfates.