Preparation, Properties, and Crystal Structure of the Rare Earth Ruthenium Carbides R3Ru2C5 (R=Y, Gd–Er)

Abstract

The title compounds were prepared from the elemental components by arc-melting and subsequent annealing. While Gd3Ru2C5 and Tb3Ru2C5 are present in the as-cast samples, the others are formed during the annealing process. The magnetic properties of the four compounds R3Ru2C5 (R=Gd–Ho) were investigated with a SQUID magnetometer. They show very soft ferromagnetism. The highest Curie temperature was observed for the gadolinium compound with TC=84(1) K. Electrical conductivity measurements for Tb3Ru2C5 indicate metallic behavior. The crystal structure of these isotypic compounds has been determined from single-crystal X-ray data of Gd3Ru2C5: P63/m, Z=4, a=1147.0(1) pm, c=504.7(1) pm, R=0.052 for 500 F values and 43 variable parameters. Structure refinements of another crystal of the gadolinium compound with a slightly different composition and of the terbium compound gave similar results. In all three structure refinements a ruthenium position on the hexagonal axis had to be refined with split occupancy. The adjacent lanthanoid positions reflect this disorder. The refinement of the occupancy parameters of the three data sets resulted in the compositions Gd3Ru1.851(1)C4.86(2), Gd3Ru1.862(2)C4.97(3), and Tb3Ru1.776(4)C4.95(1). The structure contains C2 pairs and isolated carbon atoms. The C–C distances in the three refinements vary between 133(1) and 142(3) pm, close to the typical double-bond distance of 134 pm. The structure contains trigonal polyanionic clusters of the composition Ru3C10, and in addition there are ruthenium atoms which have no carbon neighbors. Chemical bonding in these compounds is briefly discussed on the basis of the 18- and 8-electron rules.