Synthesis, crystal structure and vibrational spectra characterization of CeP5O14

The crystal structure of cerium pentaphosphate CeP5O14 has been established by X-ray diffraction. This compound crystallizes in the monoclinic system (space group P21/c, z = 4) with cell parameters: a = 8.80(2) Å; b = 9.07(10) Å; c = 13.11(2) Å and β = 90.47(10)°. The structure was refined to R = 0.014 Rw = 0.016 using 6412 independent reflections (I > 2σ(I)). Cerium pentaphosphate is isomorphous with that of the monoclinic form of the holmium salt. It is built up from infinite layers of PO4 tetrahedra linked through isolated CeO8 polyhedra. The three dimensional cohesion of the framework results from Ce–O–P bridges. Phosphate species are characterized through P–O stretching and bending vibrations in infrared and Raman spectroscopies.