Crystal structure of strontium dicobalt iron(III) tris­(orthophosphate): SrCo(2)Fe(PO(4))(3)

The title compound, SrCo(2)Fe(PO(4))(3), has been synthesized by a solid-state reaction. It crystallizes with the α-CrPO(4) type structure. In this structure, all atoms are on special positions of the Imma space group, except for two O atoms which are located on general positions. The three-dimensional network in the crystal structure is made up of two types of layers stacked normal to (100). The first layer is built from two edge-sharing CoO(6) octa­hedra, leading to the formation of Co(2)O(10) dimers that are connected to two PO(4) tetra­hedra by a common edge and corners. The second layer results from apex-sharing FeO(6) octa­hedra and PO(4) tetra­hedra, which form linear chains alternating with a zigzag chain of Sr(II) cations. These layers are linked together by common vertices of PO(4) tetra­hedra and FeO(6) octa­hedra to form an open three-dimensional framework that delimits two types of channels parallel to [100] and [010] where the Sr(II) cations are located. Each Sr(II) cation is surrounded by eight O atoms.