β-K2V3P4O17: A vanadium(IV) pyrophosphate with a layer structure

Abstract The high-temperature β-polymorph of the compound of formula K2V3P4O17 has been synthesized and its structure established by single-crystal X-ray diffraction method. Blue-green plate crystal of β-K2V3P4O17 crystallizes in the monoclinic space group P2 1 c (14) with a = 9.298(3), b = 4.879(2), c = 17.998(9) A, β = 114.98(3)°, V = 740.1 A3, Z = 2, R = 0.055, and Rw = 0.050 for 586 unique reflections. The title compound consists of layers of vanadium(IV) phosphorus oxide with the potassium atoms between the layers. Each layer is built up from corner-sharing VO5 square pyramids and P2O7 groups. Both differential thermal analysis and powder X-ray diffraction indicate that the phase transition from the low temperature α-polymorph to the high temperature β-polymorph occurs at ca. 915°C, and that the β-polymorph melts with decomposition at ca. 950°C. The phase transition is reconstructive and involves considerable bond scission and reformation between the two phases.