inorganic chemistry - Structure of lead(II,IV) oxide

I need help sorting out the molecular structure of tri-lead tetroxide, aka lead(II,IV) oxide $\ce{Pb3O4}$.

This data sheet shows this image:

The Wikipedia's lead (II,IV) oxide's link to a Jmol interactive image looks like this:

Even the Wikipedia article's Talk Page's discussion on the naming and structure makes for interesting reading.

The first drawing shows a $\ce{Pb-O-Pb-O-Pb-O -}$ ring, the second shows a 4-bond $\ce{Pb}$ in the middle with two 2-bond $\ce{Pb}$'s on either side.

Is there a "right way" and a "wrong way" to draw a single molecule of $\ce{Pb3O4}$ that represents how it might actually be configured? Are both, either, or neither of the above representations "right"?

Answer

What you call a molecular structure is in reality an asymmetric unit. These two terms are not related, and in general are not interchangeable. The same way $\ce{Pb3O4}$ is not a molecular formula, but a formula unit.

All pictures you presented are correct in terms that they do represent an asymmetric unit, but actually an IUCr-recommended asymmetric unit (can be generated with Olex2's command standardise) looks like this:

$\color{#FF0D0D}{\Large\bullet}~\ce{O}$; $\color{#575961}{\Large\bullet}~\ce{Pb}$.

... and with $Z = 4$ these are packed in a unit cell with $Pbam$ space group accordingly:

The crystal structure itself can be represented as infinite layers of cross-linked chains made of $\ce{[PbO6]}$ octahedra, which are stacked via $\ce{- O-Pb-O -}$ bridges:

Crystallographic data is taken from ICSD #9753 [1].

1. Gavarri, J. R.; Weigel, D.; Hewat, A. W. Journal of Solid State Chemistry 1978, 23 (3), 327–339. DOI 10.1016/0022-4596(78)90081-6.