Gas phase electron diffraction study of tetraphenyltin,Sn(C6H5)4

The geometrical parameters of the tetraphenyltin molecule have been determined by gas phase electron diffraction at about 310°. The S₄ and “open” D_2d molecular models with the tetrahedral bond configuration at tin were chosen for the structure analysis. The former gave the better fit. The thermal average bond lengths (r_g, in Å) are as follows:

The benzene ring geometry appears to be almost unaffected by bonding to tin. However, tin causes an increase in the endocyclic valence angle at the ipso-carbon atom to 121.0(0.9)° rather than a decrease of that angle as might be expected, tin being a σ-electron donor. The ring plane and the plane containing the

bond and S₄ axis make an angle, ?, of 34.1(2.1)°. The

bond length in tetraphenyltin is longer than not only the

bond in tetravinyltin (r_g = 2.117(4) Å) but also the

bond in tetramethyltin (r_g = 2.144(7) A).