Crystal structure of poly(p‐phenylene) prepared by organometallic technique

The two‐dimensional crystal structure of poly(p‐phenylene) is investigated by linkedatom Rietveld analysis of the x‐ray diffraction powder profile. Two molecular chains are packed in a rectangular pgg unit cell (a = 0.779 nm; b = 0.551 nm) with a paracrystalline shift distortion along the chain axis. The molecular conformation is not rigidly planar; rotations between adjacent phenyl‐ring planes in a molecule alternate with an angle of about 20°. The setting angle between the mean molecular plane and the a axis is 55.5°.