Valence Compounds versus Metals. Synthesis, Characterization, and Electronic Structures of Cubic Ae4Pn3 Phases in the Systems Ae = Ca, Sr, Ba, Eu; Pn = As, Sb, Bi

The isostructural compounds Sr4Bi3, Ba4Bi3, and Ba4As~2.60 were prepared by direct reactions of the corresponding elements and their structures determined from single-crystal X-ray diffraction data as anti-Th3P4 type in the cubic space group I3d, Z = 4 (a = 10.101(1) (angstrom), 10.550(1) (angstrom), 9.973 (1) (angstrom), respectively). The two bismuth compounds are stoichiometric, and the arsenide refines as Ba4As2.60(2).