Crystal structure of bis(N-methyl-N-phenylamino)trisulfane

The title compound, C14H16N2S3, crystallized with two independent molecules [(1a) and (1b)] in the asymmetric unit. Both molecules display a pseudo-trans conformation. The two consecutive S-S bond lengths of the trisulfane unit of molecule (1a) are 2.06 (3) and 2.08 (3) angstrom, and 2.08 (3) and 2.07 (2) angstrom for molecule (1b). Torsion angles about each of the two S-S bonds are 86.6 (2) and 87.0 (2)degrees for (1a), and -84.6 (2) and -85.9 (2)degrees for (1b). The core atoms, viz. the N-S-S-S-N moiety, of the two molecules superimpose well if one is inverted on the other, but the phenyl groups do not. Thus, the two units are essentially conformational enantiomers. In molecule (1a), the two phenyl rings are inclined to one another by 86.7 (3)degrees, and in molecule (1b), by 81.1 (3)degrees. In the crystal, molecules are linked via C-H center dot center dot center dot pi interactions, forming sheets lying parallel to (010).