Synthesis and structure of Li4GeS4

The compound Li4GeS4 has been prepared as transparent, light yellow moisture-sensitive crystals. Li4GeS4 belongs to the space group Pnma with a = 14.107(6) Angstrom, b = 7.770(3) Angstrom and c = 6.162(2) Angstrom. The crystal structure was solved by direct-methods. The final R and R(w-)values are 1.85 and 1.65% for 866 observed reflections. The Li4GeS4 structure has three crystallographically independent lithium sites and one germanium site. The lithium atoms adopt two different coordination types. The Li1 atom is coordinated to five sulfur atoms in a square pyramidal geometry, while the Li2 and Li3 atoms have distorted tetrahedral coordination. The Ge atom is tetrahedrally coordinated by four sulfur atoms and is found as [GeS4](4-) units. The anisotropic three-dimensional crystal structure of Li4GeS4 is described.