Single crystals of Rb2CaCu6(PO4)4O2 were synthesized by a hydrothermal method in the multicomponent system CuCl2-Ca(OH)2-RbCl-B2O3-Rb3PO4. The synthesis was carried out in the temperature range from 690 to 700 K and at the general pressure of 480-500 atm [1 atm = 101.325 kPa] from the mixture in the molar ratio 2CuO:CaO:Rb2O:B2O3:P2O5. The crystals studied by single-crystal X-ray analysis were found to be monoclinic, space group C2, a = 16.8913 (4), b = 5.6406 (1), c = 8.3591 (3) Å, β = 93.919 (3)°, V = 794.57 (4) Å3. The crystal structure of Rb2CaCu6(PO4)4O2 is similar to that of shchurovskyite and dmisokolovite and is based upon a heteropolyhedral open framework formed by polar layers of copper polyhedra linked via isolated PO4 tetrahedra. The presence of well-isolated 2D heteropolyhedral layers in the title compound suggests low-dimensional magnetic behavior which is masked, however, by the fierce competition between multiple ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic exchange interactions. At TC = 25 K, Rb2CaCu6(PO4)4O2 reaches a magnetically ordered state with large residual magnetization.
Keywords: IR spectroscopy; copper oxophosphate; hydrothermal synthesis; magnetic properties; shchurovskyite; single-crystal X-ray diffraction; structural complexity.