Synthesis and crystal structure of calcium dizinc iron(III) tris­(orthophosphate), CaZn(2)Fe(PO(4))(3)

Single crystals of the title compound, CaZn(2)Fe(PO(4))(3), were synthesized by conventional solid-state reaction. In the asymmetric unit, all atoms are located in fully occupied general positions of the P2(1)/c space group. The zinc atoms are located on two crystallographically independent sites with tetra­hedral and distorted triangular-based bipyramidal geometries. Two edge-sharing triangular bipyramidal ZnO(5) units form a dimer, which is linked to slightly deformed FeO(6) octa­hedra via a common edge. The resulting chains are inter­connected through PO(4) tetra­hedra to form a layer perpendicular to the b axis. Moreover, the remaining PO(4) and ZnO(4) tetra­hedra are linked together through common vertices to form tapes parallel to the c axis and surrounding a chain of Ca(2+) cations to build a sheet, also perpendicular to the b axis. The stacking of the two layers along the b axis leads to the resulting three-dimensional framework, which defines channels in which the Ca(2+) cations are located, each cation being coordinated by seven oxygen atoms.