Zinc selenium oxochloride, β-Zn2(SeO3)Cl2, a synthetic polymorph of the mineral sophiite

Abstract

Dizinc selenium dichloride trioxide, beta-Zn(2)(SeO(3))Cl(2), a monoclinic polymorph of the orthorhombic mineral sophiite, has a structure built of distorted ZnO(4)Cl(2) octahedra, ZnO(2)Cl(2) tetrahedra and SeO(3)E tetrahedra (E being the 4s(2) lone pair of the Se(IV) ion), joined through shared edges and corners to form charge-neutral layers. The Cl atoms and the Se lone pairs protrude from each layer towards adjacent layers. The main structural difference between the mineral and synthetic polymorphs lies in the packing of the layers.