YNi2B2C crystallizes in the tetragonal I4/mmm space group. Y(1) is bonded in a square co-planar geometry to four equivalent C(1) atoms. Ni(1) is bonded to four equivalent B(1) atoms to form NiB4 tetrahedra that share corners with four equivalent C(1)Y4B2 octahedra, corners with four equivalent Ni(1)B4 tetrahedra, and edges with four equivalent Ni(1)B4 tetrahedra. The corner-sharing octahedral tilt angles are 58°. B(1) is bonded in a distorted single-bond geometry to four equivalent Ni(1) and one C(1) atom. C(1) is bonded to four equivalent Y(1) and two equivalent B(1) atoms to form distorted CY4B2 octahedra that share corners with four equivalent C(1)Y4B2 octahedra, corners with eight equivalent Ni(1)B4 tetrahedra, and edges with four equivalent C(1)Y4B2 octahedra. The corner-sharing octahedra are not tilted.
YNi2B2C crystallizes in the tetragonal I4/mmm space group. Y(1) is bonded in a square co-planar geometry to four equivalent C(1) atoms. All Y(1)-C(1) bond lengths are 2.51 Å. Ni(1) is bonded to four equivalent B(1) atoms to form NiB4 tetrahedra that share corners with four equivalent C(1)Y4B2 octahedra, corners with four equivalent Ni(1)B4 tetrahedra, and edges with four equivalent Ni(1)B4 tetrahedra. The corner-sharing octahedral tilt angles are 58°. All Ni(1)-B(1) bond lengths are 2.09 Å. B(1) is bonded in a distorted single-bond geometry to four equivalent Ni(1) and one C(1) atom. The B(1)-C(1) bond length is 1.49 Å. C(1) is bonded to four equivalent Y(1) and two equivalent B(1) atoms to form distorted CY4B2 octahedra that share corners with four equivalent C(1)Y4B2 octahedra, corners with eight equivalent Ni(1)B4 tetrahedra, and edges with four equivalent C(1)Y4B2 octahedra. The corner-sharing octahedra are not tilted.