Refinement of the structure of Mg2As2O7

Abstract
The crystal structure of Mg2As2O7 has been refined by full matrix least squares procedures using 587 observed reflections. The structure of Mg2As2O7 is of the thortveitite type, as reported by Łukaszewicz, with space group C2/m and unit cell dimensions a = 6.567(2) Å, b = 8.524(4) Å, c = 4.739(1) Å, β = 103.8(1)°, and Z = 2. The As—O—As group in the anion appears to be linear but the central oxygen atom undergoes considerable disorder in the plane perpendicular to this group. The AsO bond distances uncorrected for thermal motion are 1.67 Å for the As—O(—As) bond and 1.66 and 1.65 Å for the terminal As—O bonds. The final R value obtained is 0.088.