A-site-ordered perovskite MnCu3V4O12 with a 12-coordinated manganese(II).

A novel cubic perovskite MnCu3V4O12 has been synthesized at a high pressure and high temperature of 12 GPa and 1373 K. This compound crystallizes in the A-site-ordered perovskite structure (space group Im3) with lattice constant a = 7.26684(10) Å at room temperature. The most notable feature of this compound lies in the fact that the Mn(2+) ion is surrounded by 12 equidistant oxide ions to form a regular icosahedron; the situation of Mn(2+) is unprecedented for the crystal chemistry of an oxide. An anomalously large atomic displacement parameter U(iso)= 0.0222(8) Å(2) is found for Mn(2+) at room temperature, indicating that the thermal oscillation of the small Mn(2+) ion in a large icosahedron is fairly active. Magnetic susceptibility and electric resistivity measurements reveal that 3d electrons of Mn(2+) ions are mainly localized, while 3d electrons in Cu(2+) and V(4+) ions are delocalized and contribute to the metallic conduction.