The Ternary Post‐transition Metal Carbodiimide SrZn(NCN) 2

SrZn(NCN) 2 , the first example of a ternary post‐transition metal carbodiimide, was prepared by a solid‐state metathesis reaction. The crystal structure was solved from PXRD data and found to adopt the orthorhombic ( Cmcm ) BaZnSO structure, a high symmetry modification of that expressed by the oxide analogue SrZnO 2 . Locally, SrZn(NCN) 2 features ZnN 4 tetrahedra and SrN 6 trigonal prisms similar to those in quarternary LiSr 2 M (NCN) 4 ( M = Al 3+ and Ga 3+ ) phases, however, the overall topologies are distinct with single chains in the former and double chains in the latter. Electronic structure calculations indicate an indirect bandgap of about 2.95 eV in SrZn(NCN) 2 , slightly lower than the experimentally observed bandgap of 3.4 eV in SrZnO 2 and consistent with a greater degree of covalency. The structural similarities between SrZn(NCN) 2 and oxychalcogenide analogues highlight the pseudochalcogenide character of NCN 2– and suggest that the title compound may serve as a template for accessing novel ternary carbodiimides featuring tetrahedrally coordinated transition metals.