The low-symmetry lanthanum(III) oxotellurate(IV), La10Te12O39

Single crystals of deca-lanthanum(III) dodeca-oxotellurate(IV), La10Te12O39, were obtained by reacting La2O3 and TeO2 in a CsCl flux. Its crystal structure can be viewed as a three-dimensional network of corner- and edge-sharing LaO8 polyhedra with Te(IV) atoms filling the inter-stitial sites. The Te(IV) atoms with their 5s (2) electron lone pairs distort the LaO8 polyhedra through variable Te-O bonds. Among the six unique Te sites, four of …