Ca2N adopts the anti-CdCl2 structure in which two sheets of calcium ions enclose a sheet of N3− ions, with each calcium bonded to three N3− at 2.4500 (3) Å and each nitrogen octahedrally coordinated by six calciums. Within one calcium sheet, each metal has three others at 3.2944 (8) Å and a further six at 3.6271 (3) Å. The distance between two calcium layers with no intervening nitrogen layer is 4.3221 (6) Å, and this intervening region contains no observable electron density. Neutron and X-ray powder diffraction studies have shown that the c-axis dimension changes with the synthetic method employed. In the single-crystal, c is significantly lower, reflecting the higher temperature employed in its formation.
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Baker et al. (2001) studied this question.