The first vanadate-carbonate, K2Mn3(VO4)2(CO3): crystal structure and physical properties

Mixed potassium-manganese vanadate-carbonate, K(2)Mn(3)(VO(4))(2)(CO(3)), represents a novel structure type; it has been synthesized hydrothermally from the system MnCl(2)-K(2)CO(3)-V(2)O(5)-H(2)O. Its hexagonal crystal structure was determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction with a = 5.201(1) Å, c = 22.406(3) Å, space group P6(3)/m, Z = 2, ρ(c) = 3.371 g/cm(3), and R = 0.022. The layered structure of the compound can be described as a combination of honeycomb-type modules of [MnO(6)] octahedra and [VO(4)] tetrahedra, alternating in the [001] direction with layers of [MnCO(3)] built by [MnO(5)] trigonal bipyramids and [CO(3)] planar triangles, sharing oxygen vertices. The K(+) ions are placed along channels of the framework, elongated in the [100], [010], and [110] directions. The title compound exhibits rich physical properties reflected in a phase transition of presumably Jahn-Teller origin at T(3) = 80-100 K as well as two successive magnetic phase transitions at T(2) = 3 K and T(1) = 2 K into a weakly ferromagnetic ground state, as evidenced in magnetization, specific heat, and X-band electron spin resonance measurements. A negative Weiss temperature Θ = -114 K and strongly reduced effective magnetic moment μ(eff)(2) ~ 70 μ(B)(2) per formula unit suggest that antiferromagnetic exchange interactions dominate in the system. Divalent manganese is present in a high-spin state, S = 5/2, in the octahedral environment and a low-spin state, S = ½, in the trigonal-bipyramidal coordination.