Yb2S3 crystallizes in the cubic Ia-3 space group. There are two inequivalent Yb sites. In the first Yb site, Yb(1) is bonded to six equivalent S(1) atoms to form a mixture of corner and edge-sharing YbS6 octahedra. In the second Yb site, Yb(2) is bonded to six equivalent S(1) atoms to form a mixture of distorted corner and edge-sharing YbS6 pentagonal pyramids. The corner-sharing octahedral tilt angles are 51°. S(1) is bonded to one Yb(1) and three equivalent Yb(2) atoms to form a mixture of corner and edge-sharing SYb4 trigonal pyramids.
Yb2S3 crystallizes in the cubic Ia-3 space group. There are two inequivalent Yb sites. In the first Yb site, Yb(1) is bonded to six equivalent S(1) atoms to form a mixture of corner and edge-sharing YbS6 octahedra. All Yb(1)-S(1) bond lengths are 2.80 Å. In the second Yb site, Yb(2) is bonded to six equivalent S(1) atoms to form a mixture of distorted corner and edge-sharing YbS6 pentagonal pyramids. The corner-sharing octahedral tilt angles are 51°. There are a spread of Yb(2)-S(1) bond distances ranging from 2.73-2.85 Å. S(1) is bonded to one Yb(1) and three equivalent Yb(2) atoms to form a mixture of corner and edge-sharing SYb4 trigonal pyramids.