Crystals of FeP 4 were prepared by reaction of the elemental components at elevated temperatures in silica tubes in the presence of small amounts of iodine or from a tin flux. They show a profound tendency for twinning and their crystal structure was determined from 'single-crystal' counter data of a twinned crystal.FeP 4 is monoclinic, space group P2Jc, a = 4.619 (1), b = 13.670 (2), c = 7.002 (1) ,~,,fl = 101-48 (2) °, Z = 6. For 877 unique structure factors, which do not overlap in reciprocal space of the twin, a final R value of 0.051 was obtained. The Fe atoms are in octahedral P coordination. The P atoms are tetrahedrally coordinated by Fe and P atoms. All near-neighbor interactions can be interpreted as two-electron bonds and thus Fe obtains low-spin d 6 configuration (formal oxidation number + 2) in agreement with its diamagnetism.While the metal atoms in CrP 4 (d 4 configuration for Cr) and MnP 4 (Mn in d 5 configuration) form Cr chains and Mn pairs respectively, no short Fe-Fe distances exist in FeP 4. Like the structures of CdP 4 and RuP4, the FeP 4 structure can be visualized as a layer structure with parallel sheets of linked MP 6 octahedra. Correspondingly the two-dimensionally extended P polyanions in these three polyphosphides consist of differently condensed, puckered, ten-membered rings.