inorganic compounds
Redetermination of the of arsenic tribromide, AsBr3
aExtreme Conditions Chemistry Laboratory (ECCL K2), Jožef Stefan Institute, Jamova cesta 39, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia, and bJožef Stefan International Postgraduate School, Jamova cesta 39, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
*Correspondence e-mail: [email protected]
The of AsBr3 was redetermined from low-temperature single-crystal X-ray diffraction data. Arsenic tribromide crystallizes in the orthorhombic Sohncke P212121 with Z = 4; the trigonal–pyramidal molecule exhibits three symmetry-independent As—Br bond lengths [2.3386 (3)–2.3481 (3) Å]. An overview of the previous structure refinements of AsBr3 is provided, along with a comparison of the crystallographic parameters determined with higher precision in the current study.
Keywords: arsenic tribromide; pnictogen bonding; crystal structure; single-crystal X-ray diffraction.
CCDC reference: 2535582
Structure description
Pnictogen (Pn) elements (N, P, As, Sb, and Bi) form a wide range of halides, among which pnictogen(III) halides, PnX3, typically adopt a trigonal–pyramidal shape and crystallize predominantly as discrete molecular units (Galy & Enjalbert, 1982
). In general, molecules of the PnX3 type are of interest owing to the presence of intermolecular Pn⋯X contacts in their crystal structures, which arise from σ-holes located on the Pn atom (Varadwaj et al., 2022
). These features render them valuable model systems for studies of noncovalent interactions, particularly pnictogen bonding (Mahmudov et al., 2020
; Varadwaj et al., 2022
; Brammer et al., 2023
; Resnati et al., 2024
), as well as for high-pressure investigations, owing to their ability to expand their coordination sphere under high pressure (Schwarz et al., 2019
; Cai et al., 2023
; Gain et al., 2024
; Li et al., 2025
).
Among pnictogen(III) bromides, only the crystal structure of NBr3 (Klapötke, 1997
) has not been determined, whereas PBr3 (Enjalbert & Galy, 1979a
), AsBr3 (Braekken, 1935
; Singh & Swaminathan, 1964
; Trotter, 1965
; Singh & Swaminathan, 1967
), SbBr3 (Cushen & Hulme, 1962
, 1964
), and BiBr3 (von Benda, 1980
) have all been crystallographically characterized. Notably, BiBr3 is the only member reported to crystallize in both a molecular form, composed of discrete trigonal–pyramidal BiBr3 molecules, and a bromide-bridged polymeric form (von Benda, 1980
). AsBr3 crystallizes in the P212121 and is isostructural with AsCl3 (Galy et al., 2002
) and the α-polymorph of SbBr3 (Cushen & Hulme, 1964
). Its crystal structure differs from that of AsF3, which crystallizes in the Pn21a (Enjalbert & Galy, 1979b
), and from AsI3, which adopts two polymorphs: the R room-temperature form (Enjalbert & Galy, 1980
) and the P3212 high-temperature form (Galy & Enjalbert, 1982
).
The AsBr3 crystal investigated at 100 K in the present work exhibits unit-cell parameters similar to those reported previously (Braekken, 1935
; Singh & Swaminathan, 1964
; Trotter, 1965
; Singh & Swaminathan, 1967
), but with significantly improved crystallographic parameters (Table 1
). It crystallizes in the Sohncke space group P212121 and the contains four symmetrically equivalent AsBr3 molecules adopting a slightly distorted C3v geometry (true symmetry C1; Fig. 1
).
|
| Figure 1 The molecular structure of AsBr3 with displacement ellipsoids shown at the 50% probability level. |
The redetermined As—Br bond lengths and Br—As—Br angles are in good agreement with previously reported values (Table 1
): As1—Br1 [2.3386 (3) Å], As1—Br2 [2.3416 (3) Å], and As1—Br3 [2.3481 (3) Å]; Br1—As1—Br2 [97.980 (11)°], Br1—As1—Br3 [98.124 (10)°], and Br2—As1—Br3 [99.460 (10)°]. The arsenic atom lies 1.1345 (3) Å above the trigonal plane defined by the three bromine atoms. Similar geometry was observed for cocrystallized AsBr3 molecules with crystallographically imposed C3v symmetry, with shorter As—Br bond lengths reported for the Br3As·C6Et6·AsBr3 cocrystal [2.322 (1) Å; 98.9 (1)°; 295 K] (Schmidbaur et al., 1987
) and longer for the (p-FC6H4)3P=Se·AsBr3 cocrystal [2.379 (3) Å; 96.54 (9)°; 100 K] (Alhanash et al., 2012
).
The packing in the crystal structure of AsBr3 (Fig. 2
) can be described as columns of AsBr3 molecules stacked along the a axis, interconnected to neighbouring columns via long As⋯Br and Br⋯Br contacts (Fig. 3
, Table 2
). The three shortest contacts, As1⋯Br3i [3.6585 (3) Å], As1⋯Br2i [3.6696 (3) Å], and As1⋯Br1i [3.7507 (4) Å], involve neighbouring AsBr3 molecules stacked above one another in a columnar arrangement along the a axis. The corresponding Br—As⋯Br angles deviate substantially from linearity [130.199 (10)–132.418 (10)°]. Three additional As⋯Br contacts to AsBr3 molecules in the adjacent columns are significantly longer than the sum of the van der Waals (vdW) radii [3.74 Å; Alvarez, 2013
], and are nearly linear [3.8752 (3), 4.0974 (3), 4.1323 (4) Å; 168.505 (9), 166.766 (9), 162.03 (1)°] (Table 2
). These interactions have been classified as pnictogen bonds (Varadwaj et al., 2022
). Br⋯Br contacts are likewise close to or longer than the sum of the vdW radii [3.72 Å], with only one contact being shorter [3.7044 (2) Å; Table 2
]. Intermolecular Br⋯Br distances of 3.7 Å have also been reported for AsBr3 in the liquid state (Hoge & Trotter, 1965
).
|
| | Figure 2 Unit cell and molecular packing of AsBr3 viewed along the a, b, and c axes. |
| | Figure 3 Intermolecular As⋯Br contacts in AsBr3. Displacement ellipsoids are shown at the 50% probability level. [Symmetry codes: (i) −1 + x, y, z; (ii) 1 − x, − |
Synthesis and crystallization
Reactions were performed in fluorinated ethylene propylene (FEP) vessels as previously described (Uran & Lozinšek, 2025
). AsBr3 formed as a side product during an attempt to synthesize CF3NH3[AsF6] from the reaction of BrCN with AsF5 and anhydrous HF (aHF), using a procedure similar to that reported previously (Baxter et al., 2015
). A 16 mg portion of the reaction product was recrystallized from aHF (0.37 ml) by cooling the solution to 213 K at an average rate of 5 K h−1. After crystallization, the volatiles were pumped off at 208 K, yielding crystals of AsBr3. A suitable crystal was selected using a low-temperature crystal mounting apparatus, as described previously (Lozinšek et al., 2021
; Motaln et al., 2024
), and mounted on the tip of a MiTeGen loop using Fomblin oil (Z25, SynQuest) (Motaln et al., 2025
).
Refinement
Crystal data, data collection, and structure details are summarized in Table 3
.
|
Structural data
CCDC reference: 2535582
contains datablock I. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1107/S241431462600235X/wm4246sup1.cif
Structure factors: contains datablock I. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1107/S241431462600235X/wm4246Isup2.hkl
| AsBr3 | Dx = 4.086 Mg m−3 |
| Mr = 314.65 | Ag Kα radiation, λ = 0.56087 Å |
| Orthorhombic, P212121 | Cell parameters from 20011 reflections |
| a = 4.20575 (8) Å | θ = 3.1–30.0° |
| b = 10.08102 (18) Å | µ = 15.94 mm−1 |
| c = 12.0632 (2) Å | T = 100 K |
| V = 511.46 (2) Å3 | Needle, clear colourless |
| Z = 4 | 0.15 × 0.06 × 0.03 mm |
| F(000) = 552 |
| Rigaku OD, XtaLAB Synergy-S, Dualflex, Eiger2 R CdTe 1M diffractometer | 2805 independent reflections |
| Radiation source: micro-focus sealed X-ray tube, PhotonJet (Ag) X-ray Source | 2556 reflections with I > 2σ(I) |
| Mirror monochromator | Rint = 0.041 |
| Detector resolution: 13.3333 pixels mm-1 | θmax = 30.0°, θmin = 2.1° |
| ω scans | h = −7→6 |
| Absorption correction: gaussian (CrysAlisPro; Rigaku OD, 2025) | k = −17→16 |
| Tmin = 0.288, Tmax = 0.963 | l = −21→20 |
| 30863 measured reflections |
| Refinement on F2 | w = 1/[σ2(Fo2) + (0.0097P)2] where P = (Fo2 + 2Fc2)/3 |
| Least-squares matrix: full | (Δ/σ)max = 0.001 |
| R[F2 > 2σ(F2)] = 0.016 | Δρmax = 0.43 e Å−3 |
| wR(F2) = 0.028 | Δρmin = −0.45 e Å−3 |
| S = 1.03 | Extinction correction: SHELXL (Sheldrick, 2015), Fc*=kFc[1+0.001xFc2λ3/sin(2θ)]-1/4 |
| 2805 reflections | Extinction coefficient: 0.0013 (3) |
| 39 parameters | Absolute structure: Refined as an inversion twin |
| 0 restraints | Absolute structure parameter: 0.14 (6) |
| Primary atom site location: iterative |
Geometry. All esds (except the esd in the dihedral angle between two l.s. planes) are estimated using the full covariance matrix. The cell esds are taken into account individually in the estimation of esds in distances, angles and torsion angles; correlations between esds in cell parameters are only used when they are defined by crystal symmetry. An approximate (isotropic) treatment of cell esds is used for estimating esds involving l.s. planes. |
Refinement. Refined as a 2-component inversion twin. |
| x | y | z | Uiso*/Ueq | ||
| As1 | 0.50086 (5) | 0.30382 (2) | 0.28814 (2) | 0.01745 (4) | |
| Br1 | 0.75779 (7) | 0.48585 (2) | 0.36825 (2) | 0.02074 (4) | |
| Br3 | 0.77836 (5) | 0.30011 (2) | 0.11926 (2) | 0.01918 (4) | |
| Br2 | 0.77521 (5) | 0.13600 (2) | 0.38228 (2) | 0.02066 (4) |
| U11 | U22 | U33 | U12 | U13 | U23 | |
| As1 | 0.01404 (8) | 0.02041 (8) | 0.01790 (8) | −0.00019 (7) | 0.00008 (7) | 0.00075 (7) |
| Br1 | 0.02542 (9) | 0.01809 (8) | 0.01872 (8) | 0.00129 (7) | −0.00113 (9) | −0.00212 (6) |
| Br3 | 0.02330 (8) | 0.01976 (7) | 0.01449 (7) | −0.00074 (8) | −0.00033 (7) | 0.00048 (6) |
| Br2 | 0.02379 (9) | 0.01909 (8) | 0.01909 (8) | −0.00004 (7) | 0.00067 (9) | 0.00384 (6) |
| As1—Br1 | 2.3386 (3) | As1—Br2 | 2.3416 (3) |
| As1—Br3 | 2.3481 (3) | ||
| Br1—As1—Br3 | 98.124 (10) | Br2—As1—Br3 | 99.460 (10) |
| Br1—As1—Br2 | 97.980 (11) |
| ICSD number/CSD deposition number | 24589/1600611 | 24579/1600602 | 26774/1602157 | 24915/1600922 | – |
| Reference | Braekken (1935) | Singh & Swaminathan (1964) | Trotter (1965) | Singh & Swaminathan (1967) | This work |
| Space Group | P212121 | P212121 | P212121 | P212121 | P212121 |
| a (Å) | 10.15 | 12.148 | 4.33 (1) | 10.244 | 4.20575 (8) |
| b (Å) | 12.07 | 10.244 | 10.24 (0.5) | 12.148 | 10.08102 (18) |
| c (Å) | 4.31 | 4.34 | 12.20 (0.5) | 4.34 | 12.0632 (2) |
| V (Å3) | 528.02 | 540.09 | 540.94 | 540.09 | 511.46 (2) |
| T (K) | ns | 263 | ns | ns | 100 |
| R | ns | 0.23 | 0.188 | 0.143 | 0.0161 |
| As—Br (Å) | 2.26‡ | 2.325‡ | 2.354 (15) | 2.349‡ | 2.3386 (3) |
| 2.32 | 2.335 | 2.354 (15) | 2.352 | 2.3416 (3) | |
| 2.41 | 2.354 | 2.384 (15) | 2.383 | 2.3481 (3) | |
| Br—As—Br (°) | 97.0‡ | 99.47‡ | 97.3 (5) | 96.43‡ | 97.980 (11) |
| 98.7 | 100.34 | 97.5 (5) | 96.77 | 98.124 (10) | |
| 101.2 | 100.78 | 98.2 (5) | 99.05 | 99.460 (10) |
| ns not specified; ‡ values calculated from atom coordinates reported in the ICSD. |
| Contact | As···Br | Br—As···Br |
| (Br2)As1···Br3i | 3.6585 (3) | 132.217 (9) |
| (Br3)As1···Br2i | 3.6696 (3) | 132.418 (10) |
| (Br3)As1···Br1i | 3.7507 (4) | 130.199 (10) |
| (Br1)As1···Br1ii | 3.8752 (3) | 168.505 (9) |
| (Br2)As1···Br2iii | 4.0974 (3) | 166.766 (9) |
| (Br3)As1···Br2iv | 4.1323 (4) | 162.03 (1) |
| Contact | Br···Br | As—Br···Br |
| (As1)Br3···Br3v | 3.7044 (2) | 163.822 (11) |
| (As1)Br1···Br3vi | 3.7213 (3) | 140.565 (12) |
| (As1)Br1···Br3vii | 3.7236 (3) | 157.885 (11) |
| (As1)Br2···Br1viii | 3.8321 (4) | 150.861 (10) |
| Symmetry codes: (i) -1 + x, y, z; (ii) 1 - x, -1/2 + y, 1/2 - z; (iii) 1 - x, 1/2 + y, 1/2 - z; (iv) -1/2 + x, 1/2 - y, 1 - z; (v) 1/2 + x, 1/2 - y, -z; (vi) 3/2 - x, 1 - y, 1/2 + z; (vii) 2 - x, 1/2 + y, 1/2 - z; (viii) 1/2 + x, 1/2 - y, 1 - z. |
Footnotes
‡These authors contributed equally.
Data availability
Data for this article are available from the Zenodo repository at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18704110.
Funding information
Funding for this research was provided by: European Research Council (ERC) Starting Grant under the European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme (grant No. 950625); Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency (grant No. J1-60022); Jožef Stefan Institute Director's Fund.
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