Special Issue: Advances in Zintl Phases

Abstract

Zintl phases have garnered a great deal of attention for many applications. The term “Zintl phase” recognizes the contributions of the German chemist Eduard Zintl to the field of solid-state chemistry. While Zintl phases were initially defined as a subgroup of intermetallic phases where cations and anions or polyanions in complex intermetallic structures are valence satisfied, the foundational idea of electron counting to understand complex solid-state structures has provided insight into bonding and a bridge between solid-state and molecular chemists. This Special Issue, “Advances in Zintl Phases”, provides a collage of research in the area, from solution to solid-state chemistry.

Exotic magnetic properties in Zintl phase BaVSe3: a theoretically supported experimental investigation

“…This donor–acceptor system leads to a valence-balanced condition. 2 Transition metal compounds exhibit a paramagnetic (PM) to ferromagnetic (FM) transition at particular temperatures, leading to some exciting phenomena like colossal magnetoresistance (CMR) 3 due to the critical FM fluctuations about T C . 4 This property finds applications in device components like the magnetic reading head.…”

Theoretical Exploration of Peculiar Sandwich-Type Clusters Formed by the Coordination of E92– (E = Si, Ge, Sn) Zintl Clusters: Structural Properties, Active Sites, and Hydrogen Storage

“…In the past few decades, inorganic synthetic chemistry has witnessed a rapid development of molecular alloy clusters composed of Zintl-phase ions and metal atoms. The constituent elements of the Zintl phase are mainly group 14 and group 15 metals or metalloids, most commonly E 9 n – (E = Si, Ge, Sn, Pb) and Pn 7 n – (Pn = P, As, Sb, Bi). − Zintl-phase clusters have been widely explored. Professor Sevov’s group has contributed significantly to the synthesis of these entities. , They mainly fall into two categories: the first type consisting of transition-metal atoms (such as Ni and Pd) , or other ligands that can be inserted into the clusters to form [K­(2,2,2-crypt)] 2 Si 9 , [(Me 3 Si)­Si] 3 EtGe 9 Pd­(PPh 3 ), and Na 4 CaSn 6 and the second type with the ligands of Zintl-phase anions as transition-metal complexes, such as [K 0.28 Rb 7.72 Si 9 Ni­(CO) 2 ] 2 ·16NH 3 , [Ge 18 Pd 3 (Sn i Pr 3 ) 6 ] 2– , and [Sn 14 Ni­(CO)] 4– …”

Spotlight on Alkali Metals: The Structural Chemistry of Alkali Metal Thallides

“…They completed their publication with the statement that, in case of a base metal, the formed structure type does not correlate with the average number of valence electrons per atom (VEC) according to the prevously introduced rules by Hume-Rothery [2], Westgren, and Phragmen [3]. This set a milestone in intermetallic chemistry and was the birth of polar intermetallic compounds, including metal-metal bonding (i.e., Zintl phases) [4][5][6][7][8][9] which perceive continually increasing interest in materials science [10]. In general, the combination of an electropositive and a rather electronegative metal right to the Zintl border (between group 13 and group 14 in the periodic system of elements), results in the formation of polyanionic salts [11][12][13].…”