Bis(methyltri‐o‐tolylphosphonium) octaiodide

In the crystal structure of the title compound, 2C₂₂H₂₄P⁺·I₈²⁻, the I₈²⁻ anion is located on a crystallographic inversion centre and consists of two tri‐iodide anions linked by di‐iodine at angles of 89.92 (4)° to form a planar `Z'‐shaped dianion. The octaiodides are linked via long‐range interactions [3.877 (11) Å] into infinite polyiodide ribbons. This is the first example of a structure containing an [(o‐tolyl)₃PMe]⁺ cation, and the C_Me—P—C—C_Me torsion angles of −54.0 (11), −51.3 (11) and −48.2 (11)° indicate that the configuration is exo₃.