New mixed alkaline-earth nitridomolybdate(vi) nitride oxides with anion-ordered sub-structuresDedicated to Dr Marten G. Barker in memoriam.

New molybdenum(VI) nitride oxides were synthesised by the reaction of strontium nitride and calcium nitride with molybdenum foil at high temperature in sealed stainless steel crucibles. The reactions yielded single crystalline products determined by X-ray diffraction to form complex structures in the triclinic space group P1(no. 2). The mixed alkaline earth compounds with composition Ca38Sr13[MoN4]12N8O3 and Ca36Sr15[MoN4]12N8O3 are isostructural with the quaternary nitride oxides Sr51[WN4]12N8O3 and Ca51[WN4]12N8O3. The structures contain isolated [MoN4](6-) tetrahedra, partially disordered alkaline earth cations and an ordered sublattice of N(3-) and O(2-) anions. Oxide anions are coordinated only to the alkaline earth metals. The title compounds are the first mixed alkaline earth metal nitride oxides.