Crystal structure of [Y(6)(μ(6)-O)(μ(3)-OH)(8)(H(2)O)(24)]I(8)·8H(2)O

The crystal structure of the title compound {systematic name: octa-μ(3)-hydroxido-μ(6)-oxido-hexa­kis­[tetra­aqua­yttrium(III)] octa­iodide octa­hydrate}, is characterized by the presence of the centrosymmetric mol­ecular entity [Y(6)(μ(6)-O)(μ(3)-OH)(8)(H(2)O)(24)](8+), in which the six Y(3+) cations are arranged octa­hedrally around a μ(6)-O atom at the centre of the cationic complex. Each of the eight faces of the Y(6) octa­hedron is capped by an μ(3)-OH group in the form of a distorted cube. In the hexa­nuclear entity, the Y(3+) cations are coordinated by the central μ(6)-O atom, the O atoms of four μ(3)-OH and of four water mol­ecules. The resulting coordination sphere of the metal ions is a capped square-anti­prism. The crystal packing is quite similar to that of the ortho­rhom­bic [Ln (6)(μ(6)-O)(μ(3)-OH)(8)(H(2)O)(24)]I(8)·8H(2)O structures with Ln = La—Nd, Eu—Tb, Dy, except that the title compound exhibits a slight monoclinic distortion. The proximity of the cationic complexes and the lattice water mol­ecules leads to the formation of a three-dimensional hydrogen-bonded network of medium strength.