Crystal and Molecular Structure of Diboron Tetrachloride, B2Cl4

Abstract

B2Cl4 is a planar molecule, Cl2BBCl2, with a B–Cl distance of 1.73±0.02 A and a B–B distance of 1.75±0.05 A. The crystal structure is orthorhombic, with four molecules in a unit cell of dimensions a=11.90 A, b=6.28 A, and c=7.69 A. The space group, D2h15—P bca, requires that the molecules be centrosymmetric.