The Structures of the fac and mer Isomers of Trichlorotrisiridium(III)

Article abstract of DOI:10.1107/S0567740881004391

The structure of the facial isomer of trichlorotrisiridium(III) has been determined, and that of the meridional isomer has been redetermined. fac-IIICl3(PMe2Ph)3>(1) crystallizes in space group Ia with a=16.198(2), b=14.923(2), c=22.024(2) Angstroem, β=96.37(2) deg, Z=8. mer-IIICl3(PMe2Ph)3>(2) crystallizes in space group P2₁/n with a=10.814(1), b=38.894(3), c=13.663(1) Angstroem, β=107.15(1) deg, Z=8.The structures were refined to R=0.025 <(1), 5471 independent reflections> and 0.031 <(2), 12556 independent reflections>.Metal-ligand distances in (1) are Ir-Cl 2.456(2)-2.468(2) Angstroem (trans to P) and Ir-P 2.285(2)-2.295(2) Angstroem (trans to Cl).Metal-ligand distances in (2) do not differ significantly from those reported earlier but are more precise and reveal the existence of small differences between chemically equivalent bonds due to inequivalence of intramolecular non-bonding interactions.Values from this experiment are: Ir-Cl 2.434(1)-2.439(1) Angstroem (trans to P) and 2.359(1)-2.368(1) Angstroem (trans to Cl), Ir-P 2.278(1)-2.282(1) Angstroem (trans to Cl) and 2.363(1)-2.384(1) Angstroem (trans to P).