The Molecular Structure of Antimony Trichloride as Determined by Gas-electron Diffraction

The molecular structure and mean amplitudes of SbCl3 have been determined, by the sector-microphotometer method of gas-phase electron diffraction, to be as follows: rg(Sb–Cl)=2.333±0.003 Å, rg(Cl–Cl)=3.50±0.02 Å, θα=97.2°±0.9°, l(Sb–C1)=0.063±0.004 Å, and l(Cl–Cl)=0.147±0.014 Å. The zero-point average structure derived from the diffraction results by the use of the estimated potential constants is consistent with the rotational constants, Bz, derived from the Bo of microwave measurements. The joint use of the ED and MW data has given a value of 2.326±0.001 Å for rz(Sb–Cl).