ELEMENT-ELEMENT BONDS .7. INTERMOLECULAR INTERACTIONS IN DIHALOGEN(PHENYL)STIBANES

In keeping with the literature dichloro(phenyl)stibane (1) may be obtained in a quantitative yield via a metathesis reaction between antimony(III) chloride and triphenylstibane; the dibromo (2) and diiodo (3) derivatives are synthesized by halogen exchange with phosphorus(III) bromide or sodium iodide, respectively. X-ray structure determinations at -120 +/- 3-degrees-C (R = 0.044/0.041/0.024) show the series of compounds to crystallize isotypically in the triclinic space group P1BAR. The molecules are associated two-dimensionally by a moderately excentric eta3-Sb . . arene interaction and two Sb . . halogen contacts each. Provided that the phenyl ligand is being substituted by its centre, the coordination geometry of the antimony atom may be described as a distorted octahedron. The crystal structure represents a variant (hettotype) of the bismuth(III) iodide type.