La2Cd17 crystallizes in the hexagonal P6_3/mmc space group. There are two inequivalent La sites. In the first La site, La(1) is bonded in a 18-coordinate geometry to six equivalent Cd(3) and twelve equivalent Cd(4) atoms. In the second La site, La(2) is bonded in a 20-coordinate geometry to two equivalent Cd(1), six equivalent Cd(2), six equivalent Cd(3), and six equivalent Cd(4) atoms. There are four inequivalent Cd sites. In the first Cd site, Cd(1) is bonded in a 14-coordinate geometry to one La(2), one Cd(1), three equivalent Cd(2), three equivalent Cd(4), and six equivalent Cd(3) atoms. In the second Cd site, Cd(2) is bonded to two equivalent La(2), two equivalent Cd(1), four equivalent Cd(3), and four equivalent Cd(4) atoms to form a mixture of corner, edge, and face-sharing CdLa2Cd10 cuboctahedra. In the third Cd site, Cd(3) is bonded to one La(1), one La(2), two equivalent Cd(1), two equivalent Cd(2), two equivalent Cd(3), and four equivalent Cd(4) atoms to form a mixture of distorted corner, edge, and face-sharing CdLa2Cd10 cuboctahedra. In the fourth Cd site, Cd(4) is bonded in a 12-coordinate geometry to one La(2), two equivalent La(1), one Cd(1), two equivalent Cd(2), two equivalent Cd(4), and four equivalent Cd(3) atoms.
La2Cd17 crystallizes in the hexagonal P6_3/mmc space group. There are two inequivalent La sites. In the first La site, La(1) is bonded in a 18-coordinate geometry to six equivalent Cd(3) and twelve equivalent Cd(4) atoms. All La(1)-Cd(3) bond lengths are 3.51 Å. There are six shorter (3.57 Å) and six longer (3.92 Å) La(1)-Cd(4) bond lengths. In the second La site, La(2) is bonded in a 20-coordinate geometry to two equivalent Cd(1), six equivalent Cd(2), six equivalent Cd(3), and six equivalent Cd(4) atoms. Both La(2)-Cd(1) bond lengths are 3.46 Å. All La(2)-Cd(2) bond lengths are 3.82 Å. All La(2)-Cd(3) bond lengths are 3.59 Å. All La(2)-Cd(4) bond lengths are 3.74 Å. There are four inequivalent Cd sites. In the first Cd site, Cd(1) is bonded in a 14-coordinate geometry to one La(2), one Cd(1), three equivalent Cd(2), three equivalent Cd(4), and six equivalent Cd(3) atoms. The Cd(1)-Cd(1) bond length is 2.98 Å. All Cd(1)-Cd(2) bond lengths are 3.07 Å. All Cd(1)-Cd(4) bond lengths are 3.26 Å. All Cd(1)-Cd(3) bond lengths are 3.35 Å. In the second Cd site, Cd(2) is bonded to two equivalent La(2), two equivalent Cd(1), four equivalent Cd(3), and four equivalent Cd(4) atoms to form a mixture of corner, edge, and face-sharing CdLa2Cd10 cuboctahedra. All Cd(2)-Cd(3) bond lengths are 2.94 Å. All Cd(2)-Cd(4) bond lengths are 2.98 Å. In the third Cd site, Cd(3) is bonded to one La(1), one La(2), two equivalent Cd(1), two equivalent Cd(2), two equivalent Cd(3), and four equivalent Cd(4) atoms to form a mixture of distorted corner, edge, and face-sharing CdLa2Cd10 cuboctahedra. There is one shorter (2.91 Å) and one longer (3.09 Å) Cd(3)-Cd(3) bond length. There are two shorter (3.01 Å) and two longer (3.13 Å) Cd(3)-Cd(4) bond lengths. In the fourth Cd site, Cd(4) is bonded in a 12-coordinate geometry to one La(2), two equivalent La(1), one Cd(1), two equivalent Cd(2), two equivalent Cd(4), and four equivalent Cd(3) atoms. Both Cd(4)-Cd(4) bond lengths are 2.85 Å.