Crystal structure of poly(p-phenylene) prepared by organometallic technique

The two-dimensional crystal structure of poly(p-phenylene) is investigated by linkedatom Rietveld analysis of the x-ray diffraction powder profile. Two molecular chains are packed in a rectangular pgg unit cell (a = 0.779 nm; b = 0.551 nm) with a paracrystalline shift distortion along the chain axis. The molecular conformation is not rigidly planar; rotations between adjacent phenyl-ring planes in a molecule alternate with an angle of about 20°. The setting angle between the mean molecular plane and the a axis is 55.5°.