A new compound NaIn 3 S 5 has been obtained in the CaS–In 2 S 3 /NaBr system via a reactive flux method. NaIn 3 S 5 crystallizes in the orthorhombic space group Pbam (No. 55) with a = 12.4963(8) Å, b = 16.0811(10) Å, c = 3.8041(2) Å, and Z = 4. The NaIn 3 S 5 structure is characterized by a three dimensional framework consisting of interconnected tripartite-octahedral [ In 3 S 8 ] ∞ 1 infinite chains, with Na + cations residing in the one-dimensional channels along the c direction defined by S(1), S(2), S(3) and S(4) atoms. The optical reflectance measurement shows a band gap of 2.18 eV for NaIn 3 S 5 . Electronic structure calculation by the CASTEP code not only indicates that NaIn 3 S 5 is an indirect band gap semiconductor, but also explains why its experimental band gap is close to that of β-In 2 S 3 . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]