Journal of Physical Chemistry B, Vol.107, No.14, 3117-3123, 2003
Disproportionation of an element in a zeolite. I. Crystal structure of a sulfur sorption complex of dehydrated, fully Cd2+-exchanged zeolite X. Synthesis of tetrahedral S-4(4+) and n-S-4(2+), two new polyatomic cations of sulfur
The crystal structure of a sulfur sorption complex of fully dehydrated, fully Cd2+-exchanged zeolite X, Cd-46-Si100Al92O384.52S per unit cell (a = 24.925(7) Angstrom), has been determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction methods in the cubic space group Fd (3) over bar at 21(l) degreesC. The crystal was prepared by ion exchange in an aqueous stream 0.05 M in Cd2+, followed by dehydration at 450 degreesC and 2 x 10(-6) Torr and then exposure in situ to zeolitically dry sulfur vapor. The structure was refined to the final error indices R-1 = 0.051 and R-2 = 0.043 with 362 reflections for which I > 3sigma(I). Forty-six Cd2+ ions are found at five crystallographic sites: 12 at site I at the centers of the hexagonal prisms (Cd-O = 2.387(8)), 8 at site I' in the sodalite cavities near the hexagonal prisms (Cd-O = 2.325(7) Angstrom), 7 at site II' in the sodalite cavities (Cd-O = 2.195(8) Angstrom), and the remaining 19 at two different site 11 positions, near single six-oxygen rings in the supercages, with occupancies of 7 and 12 (Cd-O = 2.155(7) and 2.251(7) Angstrom, respectively). All fifty-two sulfur atoms disproportionated upon sorption to give sulfide anions and two new tetrasulfur cations, S-4(4+) and n-S-4(2+). Each of 12 sulfide ions coordinates to a site 11 Cd2+ ion in the supercage. S-4(4+) is tetrahedral with S-S = 2.17(2) Angstrom, a quantum mechanical calculation gives 2.21 Angstrom, and two of the eight sodalite cavities per unit cell are centered by one. In S-4(4+), each sulfur atom is 3.380(9) Angstrom from three framework oxygens; with those 12 contacts, S-4(4+) is hosted and stabilized by an anionic sodalite cavity. Each supercage holds a zigzag n-S-4(2+) cluster with a torsion angle of 114(8)degrees. n-S-4(2+) is electron deficient, bridges covalently between two zeolite oxygens, and has a predominantly ionic interaction with a sulfide ion.