Ca2CdP2 crystallizes in the orthorhombic Cmc2_1 space group. There are two inequivalent Ca sites. In the first Ca site, Ca(1) is bonded in a 5-coordinate geometry to two equivalent P(1) and three equivalent P(2) atoms. In the second Ca site, Ca(2) is bonded in a 5-coordinate geometry to one P(2) and four equivalent P(1) atoms. Cd(1) is bonded in a 4-coordinate geometry to two equivalent P(1) and two equivalent P(2) atoms. There are two inequivalent P sites. In the first P site, P(1) is bonded in a 8-coordinate geometry to two equivalent Ca(1), four equivalent Ca(2), and two equivalent Cd(1) atoms. In the second P site, P(2) is bonded to one Ca(2), three equivalent Ca(1), and two equivalent Cd(1) atoms to form a mixture of distorted corner and edge-sharing PCa4Cd2 octahedra. The corner-sharing octahedral tilt angles are 74°.
Ca2CdP2 crystallizes in the orthorhombic Cmc2_1 space group. There are two inequivalent Ca sites. In the first Ca site, Ca(1) is bonded in a 5-coordinate geometry to two equivalent P(1) and three equivalent P(2) atoms. Both Ca(1)-P(1) bond lengths are 3.08 Å. There are two shorter (2.90 Å) and one longer (2.98 Å) Ca(1)-P(2) bond length. In the second Ca site, Ca(2) is bonded in a 5-coordinate geometry to one P(2) and four equivalent P(1) atoms. The Ca(2)-P(2) bond length is 2.86 Å. There are two shorter (2.98 Å) and two longer (3.01 Å) Ca(2)-P(1) bond lengths. Cd(1) is bonded in a 4-coordinate geometry to two equivalent P(1) and two equivalent P(2) atoms. There is one shorter (2.67 Å) and one longer (2.75 Å) Cd(1)-P(1) bond length. Both Cd(1)-P(2) bond lengths are 2.57 Å. There are two inequivalent P sites. In the first P site, P(1) is bonded in a 8-coordinate geometry to two equivalent Ca(1), four equivalent Ca(2), and two equivalent Cd(1) atoms. In the second P site, P(2) is bonded to one Ca(2), three equivalent Ca(1), and two equivalent Cd(1) atoms to form a mixture of distorted corner and edge-sharing PCa4Cd2 octahedra. The corner-sharing octahedral tilt angles are 74°.