YbAl2Ge2 crystallizes in the trigonal P-3m1 space group. Yb(1) is bonded to six equivalent Ge(1) atoms to form YbGe6 octahedra that share corners with twelve equivalent Al(1)Ge4 tetrahedra, edges with six equivalent Yb(1)Ge6 octahedra, and edges with six equivalent Al(1)Ge4 tetrahedra. Al(1) is bonded to four equivalent Ge(1) atoms to form AlGe4 tetrahedra that share corners with six equivalent Yb(1)Ge6 octahedra, corners with six equivalent Al(1)Ge4 tetrahedra, edges with three equivalent Yb(1)Ge6 octahedra, and edges with three equivalent Al(1)Ge4 tetrahedra. The corner-sharing octahedral tilt angles range from 18-53°. Ge(1) is bonded to three equivalent Yb(1) and four equivalent Al(1) atoms to form a mixture of distorted corner and edge-sharing GeYb3Al4 pentagonal bipyramids.
YbAl2Ge2 crystallizes in the trigonal P-3m1 space group. Yb(1) is bonded to six equivalent Ge(1) atoms to form YbGe6 octahedra that share corners with twelve equivalent Al(1)Ge4 tetrahedra, edges with six equivalent Yb(1)Ge6 octahedra, and edges with six equivalent Al(1)Ge4 tetrahedra. All Yb(1)-Ge(1) bond lengths are 2.98 Å. Al(1) is bonded to four equivalent Ge(1) atoms to form AlGe4 tetrahedra that share corners with six equivalent Yb(1)Ge6 octahedra, corners with six equivalent Al(1)Ge4 tetrahedra, edges with three equivalent Yb(1)Ge6 octahedra, and edges with three equivalent Al(1)Ge4 tetrahedra. The corner-sharing octahedral tilt angles range from 18-53°. There are three shorter (2.53 Å) and one longer (2.62 Å) Al(1)-Ge(1) bond length. Ge(1) is bonded to three equivalent Yb(1) and four equivalent Al(1) atoms to form a mixture of distorted corner and edge-sharing GeYb3Al4 pentagonal bipyramids.