Rb2SmCl5 crystallizes in the orthorhombic Pnma space group. Rb(1) is bonded in a 8-coordinate geometry to two equivalent Cl(1), two equivalent Cl(2), two equivalent Cl(3), and two equivalent Cl(4) atoms. Sm(1) is bonded to one Cl(1), one Cl(2), one Cl(3), and four equivalent Cl(4) atoms to form distorted edge-sharing SmCl7 pentagonal bipyramids. There are four inequivalent Cl sites. In the first Cl site, Cl(1) is bonded to four equivalent Rb(1) and one Sm(1) atom to form a mixture of distorted face, edge, and corner-sharing ClRb4Sm trigonal bipyramids. In the second Cl site, Cl(2) is bonded in a 5-coordinate geometry to four equivalent Rb(1) and one Sm(1) atom. In the third Cl site, Cl(3) is bonded to four equivalent Rb(1) and one Sm(1) atom to form a mixture of distorted face, edge, and corner-sharing ClRb4Sm trigonal bipyramids. In the fourth Cl site, Cl(4) is bonded in a 4-coordinate geometry to two equivalent Rb(1) and two equivalent Sm(1) atoms.
Rb2SmCl5 crystallizes in the orthorhombic Pnma space group. Rb(1) is bonded in a 8-coordinate geometry to two equivalent Cl(1), two equivalent Cl(2), two equivalent Cl(3), and two equivalent Cl(4) atoms. There is one shorter (3.27 Å) and one longer (3.30 Å) Rb(1)-Cl(1) bond length. There is one shorter (3.35 Å) and one longer (3.44 Å) Rb(1)-Cl(2) bond length. There is one shorter (3.26 Å) and one longer (3.31 Å) Rb(1)-Cl(3) bond length. There is one shorter (3.53 Å) and one longer (3.54 Å) Rb(1)-Cl(4) bond length. Sm(1) is bonded to one Cl(1), one Cl(2), one Cl(3), and four equivalent Cl(4) atoms to form distorted edge-sharing SmCl7 pentagonal bipyramids. The Sm(1)-Cl(1) bond length is 2.73 Å. The Sm(1)-Cl(2) bond length is 2.73 Å. The Sm(1)-Cl(3) bond length is 2.75 Å. All Sm(1)-Cl(4) bond lengths are 2.83 Å. There are four inequivalent Cl sites. In the first Cl site, Cl(1) is bonded to four equivalent Rb(1) and one Sm(1) atom to form a mixture of distorted face, edge, and corner-sharing ClRb4Sm trigonal bipyramids. In the second Cl site, Cl(2) is bonded in a 5-coordinate geometry to four equivalent Rb(1) and one Sm(1) atom. In the third Cl site, Cl(3) is bonded to four equivalent Rb(1) and one Sm(1) atom to form a mixture of distorted face, edge, and corner-sharing ClRb4Sm trigonal bipyramids. In the fourth Cl site, Cl(4) is bonded in a 4-coordinate geometry to two equivalent Rb(1) and two equivalent Sm(1) atoms.