Halides of mono-, di-, and trivalent metals of the general formulas AX, BX2, and MX3
may react with each other, forming a large variety of ternary and even quaternary phases
in the solid state. Aside from the alkali-poor quaternary chlorides of the ABMX6 type, which
are derivatives of the UCl3 type of structure, the alkali cation free pseudoternary chlorides
that form in the systems BCl2/MCl3, especially with B = Ba, are reviewed. Examples of
ternary chlorides are Ba2EuCl7, with isolated [EuCl7] monocapped trigonal prisms; Ba2Cl[ScCl6], with isolated octahedra [ScCl6] and lonesome Cl-; Ba8[{(Sm6)Z}Cl32], and Ba9[{(Sm6)Z}Cl34], with Z being presumably an oxide ion residing in the large hole of the [Sm6Cl36] polyhedral clusters that occur in these fluorite type superstructures; and, finally,
BaGdCl5, with corrugated layers of edge-connected [GdCl8] square antiprisms. These halides
may be cationic conductors (AgSrSmCl6), insulating mixed-valence halides such as NaNd2Cl6, or semiconductors such as Pr2Br5 with interesting magnetic ordering at lower
temperatures, or they may serve as hosts for luminescent ions. Ba2ErCl7, for example, is
an efficient near-infrared to near-ultraviolet upconversion material.