Electron diffraction structure analysis of epitaxially crystallized n‐paraffins

Electron diffraction data from a series of paraffins epitaxially crystallized on benzoic acid are used to determine their crystal structures. Even‐chain paraffins from n‐C32H66 to n‐C60H122 are shown to crystallize isostructurally as the orthorhombic polymorph described for n‐C36H74. Like the even‐chain compounds, odd‐chain paraffins do not crystallize in their lowest‐energy form. A quantitative zonal crystal structure analysis for n‐C33H74 suggests that the molecular packing is in the B‐polymorphic form proposed earlier by other workers.