Ca(5)Zr(3)F(22)

Single crystals of Ca(5)Zr(3)F(22), penta­calcium trizirconium docosafluoride, were obtained unexpectedly by solid-state reaction between CaF(2) and ZrF(4) in the presence of AgF. The structure of the title compound is isotypic with that of Sr(5)Zr(3)F(22) and can be described as being composed of layers with composition [Zr(3)F(20)](8−) made up from two different [ZrF(8)](4−) square anti­prisms (one with site symmetry 2) by corner-sharing. The layers extending parallel to the (001) plane are further linked by Ca(2+) cations, forming a three-dimensional network. Amongst the four crystallographically different Ca(2+) ions, three are located on twofold rotation axes. The Ca(2+) ions exhibit coordination numbers ranging from 8 to 12, depending on the cut off, with very distorted fluorine environments. Two of the Ca(2+) ions occupy inter­stices between the layers whereas the other two are located in void spaces of the [Zr(3)F(20)](8−) layer and alternate with the two Zr atoms along [010]. The crystal under investigation was an inversion twin.