Sodium dipotassium citrate, NaK2C6H5O7.

Area of Science:

• Crystallography
• Inorganic Chemistry
• Materials Science

Background:

• Citrate compounds are important in various chemical and biological processes.
• Understanding the crystal structure of metal citrates is crucial for their applications.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine the crystal structure of sodium dipotassium citrate.
• To analyze the coordination environment of sodium and potassium cations.
• To elucidate the three-dimensional network formed by the ions.

Main Methods:

• Laboratory X-ray powder diffraction data collection.
• Crystal structure refinement.
• Density functional theory (DFT) calculations for optimization.

Main Results:

• The crystal structure of sodium dipotassium citrate (Na(+)·2K(+)·C6H5O7(3-)) was solved and refined.
• Sodium and potassium cations exhibit varying coordination numbers (six- and seven-coordinate).
• A three-dimensional network is formed by edge-sharing [NaO6] octahedra and [KO6]/[KO7] polyhedra.

Conclusions:

• The study provides detailed insights into the coordination chemistry of sodium and potassium in citrate complexes.
• The identified three-dimensional network highlights the structural complexity of this inorganic salt.
• The findings contribute to the understanding of metal-organic framework structures.