Cs₄P₂Se₁₀: A new compound discovered with the application of solid-state and high temperature NMR

The new compound Cs₄P₂Se₁₀ was serendipitously produced in high purity during a high-temperature synthesis done in a nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrometer. ³¹P magic angle spinning (MAS) NMR of the products of the synthesis revealed that the dominant phosphorus-containing product had a chemical shift of -52.8 ppm that could not be assigned to any known compound. Deep reddish brown well-formed plate-like crystals were isolated from the NMR reaction ampoule and the structure was solved with X-ray diffraction. Cs₄P₂Se₁₀ has the triclinic space group P-1 with a=7.3587(11) Å, b=7.4546(11) Å, c=10.1420(15) Å, α=85.938(2)°, β=88.055(2)°, and γ=85.609(2)° and contains the [P₂Se₁₀]^4- anion. To our knowledge, this is the first compound containing this anion that is composed of two tetrahedral (PSe₄) units connected by a diselenide linkage. It was also possible to form a glass by quenching the melt in ice water, and Cs₄P₂Se₁₀ was recovered upon annealing. The static ³¹P NMR spectrum at 350 °C contained a single peak with a -35 ppm chemical shift and a ∼7 ppm peak width. This study highlights the potential of solid-state and high-temperature NMR for aiding discovery of new compounds and for probing the species that exist at high temperature.