Crystal structure of the 1:3 thiourea-hexachloroethane inclusion compound at 295 K

The crystal structure of the 1:3 thiourea-hexachloroethane inclusion compound at 295 K has been determined. The parameters of the rhombohedral Bravais cell (space group R3¯c) are a = 16.097(2) Å, c = 12.450(3) Å, V = 2793.6(8) ų, d _calc = 1.659 g/cm³, d _exp = 1.661±0.005 g/cm³, Z = 6 for C₅H₁₂Cl₆N₆S₃. The disordered guest molecules lie in the channels (parallel to the c axis) of the clathrate framework constructed from thiourea molecules linked by N-H...S hydrogen bonds. The mutual arrangement of the carbon and chlorine atoms is such that they define four orientations of the C-C bond relative to the channel of the host framework with nearly eclipsed conformations of hexachloroethane: one orientation along the triple bond axis (channel axis) and three equiprobable orientations at an angle of 74(2)° to the axis; for the coaxial orientation, there are two different configurations of the guest with slightly different geometries. The relative contributions of each of the five orientations were determined from the site occupancies of the guest atoms: 26.18 (coaxial orientations) and 3×19%. The resulting structure model is compared with the literature data about guest disordering in the structure of an adduct of the same composition determined at 233 K and with other similar structures.