Crystal and molecular structure of dithiobiuret

The crystal and molecular structure of dithiobiuret (S₂C₂N₃H₅) has been determined and refined from 1020 intensities measured by counter techniques at room temperature. The full-matrix refinement, including anisotropic temperature factors for the non-hydrogen atoms and isotropic temperature factors for the hydrogen atoms, converged to a finalR of 0·033. The structure consists of almost planar molecules in thetrans configuration with essentially only van der Waals interactions between molecules. The two independent C-S distances are 1·702(3) and 1·673(3) Å. The internal C-N distances are 1·386(4) and 1·367(4) Å, whereas the external C-N distances are 1·331(4) and 1·309(4) Å. The unit cell parameters area = 4·081(1),b = 17·684(5),c = 8·222(3) Å and = 100·56(2) °;Z = 4,D _m =D _c = 1·54 gcm^–3; the space group isP2₁/c.