Conformation of BEDT-TTF molecules in the crystal

Based on comparison of low-temperature x-ray diffraction data for BEDT-TTF salts and quantum chemical MNDO calculations, we have shown that the most energetically favorable conformation of the BEDT-TTF molecule is not realized in the crystal. A local energy minimum 0.035 eV above the ground state corresponds to the conformation detected in the crystal. The x-ray diffraction data and the MNDO results suggest weak participation of the heteroatoms of the six-membered rings in the conjugation with the -system of the TTF-fragment in the BEDT-TTF and BEDO-TTF molecules.Institute of Chemical Physics at Chernogolovka, Russian Academy of Sciences, Chernogolovka 142432. Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk, Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 4, pp. 890–894, April, 1992.