On the thermal dimorphy of the strontium perrhenate Sr[ReO4]2

Abstract

Hygroscopic single crystals of a new hexagonal high‐temperature modification of Sr[ReO4]2 were prepared from a melt of Sr[ReO4]2 ⋅ H2O and SrCl2 ⋅ 6 H2O. The structure analysis of the obtained crystals by X‐ray diffraction revealed that the title compound crystallizes in the ThCd[MoO4]3‐type structure with the hexagonal space group P63/m and the lattice parameters a=1023.81(7) pm and c=646.92(4) pm (c/a=0.632) for Z=2 in its quenchable high‐temperature form. Two crystallographically independent Sr2+ cations are coordinated by oxygen atoms forming either octahedra or tricapped trigonal prisms, whereas the Re7+ cations are found in the centers of discrete tetrahedral meta‐perrhenate units [ReO4]-. Temperature‐dependent in‐situ PXRD studies of dry powder samples of Sr[ReO4]2 exhibited its thermal dimorphy with a phase‐transition temperature at 500-550 °C from literature‐known m‐Sr[ReO4]2 into the newly discovered h‐Sr[ReO4]2 (hexagonal).