Tin triphosphide is a binary

inorganic compound An inorganic compound is typically a chemical compound that lacks carbon–hydrogen bonds⁠that is, a compound that is not an organic compound. The study of inorganic compounds is a subfield of chemistry known as ''inorganic chemistry''. Inorgan ...

tin Tin is a chemical element; it has symbol Sn () and atomic number 50. A silvery-colored metal, tin is soft enough to be cut with little force, and a bar of tin can be bent by hand with little effort. When bent, a bar of tin makes a sound, the ...

metal and

phosphorus Phosphorus is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol P and atomic number 15. All elemental forms of phosphorus are highly Reactivity (chemistry), reactive and are therefore never found in nature. They can nevertheless be prepared ar ...

with the chemical formula .

Structure

X-ray crystallography X-ray crystallography is the experimental science of determining the atomic and molecular structure of a crystal, in which the crystalline structure causes a beam of incident X-rays to Diffraction, diffract in specific directions. By measuring th ...

reveals that tin triphosphide is not a triphosphide. It is a hexaphosphide, with P₆^6- rings. These ruffled P₆ rings form three short (2.66 Å) and three long (2.95 Å) Sn-P bonds. The result is that Sn(II) adopts highly distorted octahedral geometry. The structure of tin triphosphide resembles that of gray arsenic, which also features corrugated, linked six-membered (As₆) rings, wherein each arsenic atom has a highly distorted octahedral geometry. Germanium triphosphide and tin triphosphide are similar structurally as well. Tin triphosphide forms triclinic crystals, spatial group ''R3m'' with six formula units in a unit cell of dimensions a = 7.378 Å and c = 10.512 Å.

Preparation and occurrence

Tin triphosphide can be formed from the fusion of stoichiometric amounts of both elements at 580 °C: : has been evaluated for use in energy storage devices.

Related compounds

*SnP, which has the sodium chloride structure. *Sn₄P₃

References

{{Phosphides Tin compounds Phosphides Trigonal crystals