HoP5 crystallizes in the monoclinic P2_1/m space group. Ho(1) is bonded in a 8-coordinate geometry to two equivalent P(1), two equivalent P(2), and four equivalent P(3) atoms. There are three inequivalent P sites. In the first P site, P(3) is bonded to two equivalent Ho(1), one P(2), and one P(3) atom to form PHo2P2 tetrahedra that share corners with four equivalent P(3)Ho2P2 tetrahedra, corners with five equivalent P(1)Ho2P2 tetrahedra, corners with six equivalent P(2)HoP3 tetrahedra, and  an edgeedge with one P(3)Ho2P2 tetrahedra. In the second P site, P(1) is bonded to two equivalent Ho(1) and two equivalent P(2) atoms to form distorted PHo2P2 tetrahedra that share corners with two equivalent P(1)Ho2P2 tetrahedra, corners with six equivalent P(2)HoP3 tetrahedra, and corners with ten equivalent P(3)Ho2P2 tetrahedra. In the third P site, P(2) is bonded to one Ho(1), one P(1), one P(2), and one P(3) atom to form distorted PHoP3 tetrahedra that share corners with three equivalent P(1)Ho2P2 tetrahedra, corners with six equivalent P(3)Ho2P2 tetrahedra, and  an edgeedge with one P(2)HoP3 tetrahedra.
HoP5 crystallizes in the monoclinic P2_1/m space group. Ho(1) is bonded in a 8-coordinate geometry to two equivalent P(1), two equivalent P(2), and four equivalent P(3) atoms. There is one shorter (2.94 Å) and one longer (3.03 Å) Ho(1)-P(1) bond length. Both Ho(1)-P(2) bond lengths are 2.92 Å. There are two shorter (2.95 Å) and two longer (2.99 Å) Ho(1)-P(3) bond lengths. There are three inequivalent P sites. In the first P site, P(3) is bonded to two equivalent Ho(1), one P(2), and one P(3) atom to form PHo2P2 tetrahedra that share corners with four equivalent P(3)Ho2P2 tetrahedra, corners with five equivalent P(1)Ho2P2 tetrahedra, corners with six equivalent P(2)HoP3 tetrahedra, and  an edgeedge with one P(3)Ho2P2 tetrahedra. The P(3)-P(2) bond length is 2.15 Å. The P(3)-P(3) bond length is 2.20 Å. In the second P site, P(1) is bonded to two equivalent Ho(1) and two equivalent P(2) atoms to form distorted PHo2P2 tetrahedra that share corners with two equivalent P(1)Ho2P2 tetrahedra, corners with six equivalent P(2)HoP3 tetrahedra, and corners with ten equivalent P(3)Ho2P2 tetrahedra. Both P(1)-P(2) bond lengths are 2.20 Å. In the third P site, P(2) is bonded to one Ho(1), one P(1), one P(2), and one P(3) atom to form distorted PHoP3 tetrahedra that share corners with three equivalent P(1)Ho2P2 tetrahedra, corners with six equivalent P(3)Ho2P2 tetrahedra, and  an edgeedge with one P(2)HoP3 tetrahedra. The P(2)-P(2) bond length is 2.18 Å.