Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 1, 2026

Construction and Systematical Symmetric Studies of a Series of Supramolecular Clusters with Binary or Ternary Ammonium Triphenylacetates
Published on: February 15, 2016
Serendibite, a complicated, new, inorganic crystal structure
M J Buerger1, V Venkatakrishnan
1Institute of Materials Science, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Conn. 06268.
Abstract:
Serendibite with very similar analyses is known from Ceylon and New York. The triclinic cell of symmetry P[unk] and volume 670.9 A(3) contains 2Ca(1.64)Mg(2.64)Fe(0.27) (II)Al(4.64)B(1.66)Si(3)O(20), with 14 metal atoms and 20 oxygen atoms in the asymmetric unit. It was solved by the "direct" method of transforming the ordinary three-dimensional Patterson function into an approximation of the electron density by using conjugate peaks and minimum functions, followed by successive Fourier syntheses and least-squares refinement to R = 7.1%. This new structure is composed of interrupted brucite-type layers which form an octahedral framework, and winged single chains of tetrahedra. The structure has units of similar, but not identical, geometry to those of the minerals sapphirine and aenigmatite, and these similar units are assembled in a different way.
Related Concept Videos
Ionic Crystal Structures
Most monatomic ions behave as charged spheres, and their attraction for ions of opposite charge is the same in every direction. Consequently, stable structures for ionic compounds result (1) when ions of one charge are surrounded by as many ions as possible of the opposite...
Crystal Field Theory - Octahedral Complexes
To explain the observed behavior of transition metal complexes (such as colors), a model involving electrostatic interactions between the electrons from the ligands and the electrons in the unhybridized d orbitals of the central metal atom has been developed. This electrostatic model is crystal field theory (CFT). It helps to understand, interpret, and predict the colors, magnetic behavior, and some structures of coordination compounds of transition metals.
CFT focuses on...
Crystal Field Theory - Tetrahedral and Square Planar Complexes
Crystal field theory (CFT) is applicable to molecules in geometries other than octahedral. In octahedral complexes, the lobes of the dx2−y2 and dz2 orbitals point directly at the ligands. For tetrahedral complexes, the d orbitals remain in place, but with only four ligands located between the axes. None of the orbitals points directly at the tetrahedral ligands. However, the dx2−y2 and dz2 orbitals (along the Cartesian axes) overlap with the ligands less than the dxy,...
Recrystallization: Solid–Solution Equilibria
Determination of Crystal Structures
Imperfections in Crystal Structure: Point, Line and Plane Defects

