Frustrated Packing in Simple Structures: Chemical Pressure Hindrance to Isolobal Bonds in the TiAl3 type and ZrAl2.6Sn0.4.

While simple close-packed arrangements convey a sense of optimization, they can, in fact, host competition between different types of interactions. The TiAl3 structure type, for example, represents one of a series of ordered TE3 variants (T = transition metal, E = main group element) of the face-centered cubic structure, alongside the AuCu3 and ZrAl3 types. These structures differ in their T-T connectivity corresponding to the 18-n rule: electronic pseudogaps occur at electron concentrations of 18-n/T atom, where n is the number of electron pairs each T atom shares with other T atoms in T-T isolobal bonds. Facile stacking variations interrelate these structures, presumably setting the stage for an electronically precise series. However, the prototype of the TiAl3 type itself violates the 18-n rule, with its count of 13 electrons/Ti atom calling for n = 5 rather than the 4 isolobal T-T bonds/T atom available in this type. Here, we investigate the factors underlying this deviation from the 18-n rule and their relation to the new TiAl3-type compound ZrAl3-xSnx (x ∼ 0.4). First, the relative stabilities of the TiAl3 and ZrAl3 types are compared for TAl3 compounds (T = Zr and Ti). While for T = Zr, the structure adhering to the 18-n rule is highly preferred, for T = Ti, the energy difference essentially vanishes. This trend is connected through DFT-Chemical Pressure (CP) analysis to a tension that emerges in TiAl3 between the optimization of the T-T isolobal bonds and the space requirements of Al-Al contacts elsewhere. This picture elucidates the transition of ZrAl3 from its own type to the TiAl3-type upon partial Sn substitution in ZrAl2.6Sn0.4: the incorporation of Sn brings the electron count closer to that predicted for the TiAl3 type, while electronegativity and CP direct the larger Sn atoms to the site that resists isolobal bond formation in TiAl3.