Abstract
A PRELIMINARY determination1 of the crystal structure of benzene at −22° C. showed that the crystals are orthorhombic. space-group Pbca, with four centro-symmetrical molecules in the unit cell, and that the normals to the planes of the molecules are roughly perpendicular to the b-axis and inclined at about 50° to the c-axis. We have now completed the first stage of refinement of the structure at −3° C. Crystals were grown in Lindemann glass tubes of wall thickness 0.05 mm. and bore 0.36 mm. by the method of Keesom and Taconis2 as modified by later workers3. 288 independent reflexion intensities representing 56 per cent of the total possible with copper radiation were estimated visually from oscillation photographs about all three principal axes. Chromium-K radiation was used to obtain accurate values of the unit cell dimensions by the Straumanis method; the revised dimensions are a = 7.460, b = 9.666 and c = 7.034 A.
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References
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COX, E., SMITH, J. Crystal Structure of Benzene at −3° C.. Nature 173, 75 (1954). https://doi.org/10.1038/173075a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/173075a0
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