Formation of the Sub-oxide Sc₄Au₂O_1–x and the Drastically Negative ²⁷Al NMR Shift in Sc₂Al

Abstract

During attempts to synthesize Sc4AuAl in the cubic Gd4RhIn-type structure, the solid solution Sc2Au0.5Al0.5 in the PbCl2-type structure formed instead. Subsequently, the solid solution Sc2Au1–x Al x was investigated with respect to its existence range along with the structure types formed for different compositions with x = 0, 0.25, 0.5, 0.75, and 1. According to X-ray powder diffraction studies, Sc2Al and nominal Sc2Au0.25Al0.75 crystallized in the hexagonal Ni2In-type structure (P63/mmc), while Sc2Au0.5Al0.5, Sc2Au0.75Al0.25, and Sc2Au were found to crystallize in the orthorhombic PbCl2-type structure (Pnma). The crystal structures of Sc2Au and Sc2Au0.59(1)Al0.41(1) were refined from single-crystal data (Sc2Au: a = 648.0(1), b = 467.2(1), c = 835.2(2) pm, wR2 = 0.0382, 535 F 2 values, 25 variables; Sc2Au0.59(1)Al0.41(1): a = 632.48(5), b = 472.16(3), c = 848.67(6) pm, wR2 = 0.0484, 540 F 2 values, 21 variables). Contamination with air during the synthesis of Sc2Au led to the discovery of a compound adopting the cubic W4Co2C-type structure (stuffed cubic Ti2Ni type). Using Sc2O3 as a defined oxygen source led to samples with high amounts of Sc4Au2O1–x . All intermetallic compounds exhibited Pauli paramagnetic behavior in the investigated temperature range of 2.1 to 300 K, and no superconductivity was observed at low temperatures and low fields. Sc2Au and Sc2Al were investigated by 27Al and 45Sc solid-state NMR investigations. For Sc2Al, one signal was found in the 27Al NMR spectra in line with the crystal structure; however, an extremely negative resonance shift of δ = −673 ppm was observed. In both compounds, two Sc resonances were observed, in line with the proposed crystal structure. Finally, it was observed that the stability of Sc2Au in air is limited. This was investigated via thermal analysis and (temperature-dependent) powder X-ray diffraction. DFT calculations helped in assessing charge analysis, electronic properties, and chemical bonding.