Crystal structure of di(N-benzyl piperidinium) pentachloroantimonate(III) dihydrate

The salt di(N-benzyl piperidinium) pentachloroantimonate(III) dihydrate crystallizes in the orthorhombic system with space group Cmc2₁, the unit cell dimensions are: a = 29.383(1), b = 10.509(2), c = 9.941(1) Å, with Z = 8. The structure shows a layer arrangement perpendicular to the a axis: planes of SbCl₆ octahedra alternate with planes of [C₁₂H₁₇N]⁺ cations. The SbCl₆ octahedra are connected through a O(W)–HCl hydrogen bonds and a chlorine bridge, so that infinite unidimensional chains of composition [SbCl₅(H₂O)₂]^2n–_n are formed in the structure along the c direction. These chains are connected to [C₁₂H₁₇N]⁺ entities by N–HCl and N–HO(W) hydrogen bonds, forming a three-dimensional network. It was found that lengths of Sb–Cl bonds may differ from each other. The differences shown as a distortion of the SbCl₆ octahedra were attributed to the Sb(III) lone electron pair stereoactivity.