Synthesis and characterization of a new ternary nitride, Ca3VN3

We have synthesized a new ternary nitride, Ca3VN3, from the binary nitrides at high temperature. The refined structure was solved in the P21/m space group with lattice constants a=6.717(2), b=5.064(2), c=6.720(3) Å, β=78.88(3)°, Z=2, R=3.2%, and Rw=3.7%. The structure is related to the recently reported A3MN3 compounds (D. A. Vennos, M. E. Badding, and F. J. DiSalvo, Inorg. Chem. 29, 4059, 1990) with sheets of [VN3]6− trigonal planar units and calcium ions. Ca3VN3 is insulating with V3+ in the low-spin state, S=0.