catena‐Poly[bis(trimethylphenylammonium) [hexa‐μ‐chlorido‐dichloridotricuprate(II)]]: an alternating zigzag chain of CuCl4 and Cu2Cl6 complexes

The title compound, {(C₉H₁₄N)₂[Cu₃Cl₈]}_n, consists of parallel chains of alternating quasiplanar Cu₂Cl₆ and planar CuCl₄ complexes separated by trimethylphenylammonium cations. Both inorganic complexes possess inversion symmetry. Pairs of neighboring chloride ions of the CuCl₄ complex each form a symmetric bridge and an asymmetric bridge to Cu₂Cl₆ complexes on either side. The Cu₂Cl₆ complex contains two symmetric chloride bridges between the copper cations with a terminal chloride bound to each five‐coordinated Cu^II ion. The CuCl₄ complex completes its coordination environment by forming two long semicoordinate contacts to the bridging chloride ions of neighboring Cu₂Cl₆ complexes. The use of the bridging rather than the terminal chloride ions to form semicoordinate contacts generates a new zigzag chain structure that differs from the straight chain structures found for other A₂Cu₃Cl₈ compounds. The zigzag chain structure is adopted so as to conform to the shorter repeat distance dictated by stacking of the organic cations.