The crystal structure of cyanogen chloride

Solid cyanogen chloride, C1CN, at about --30 ° C. is orthorhombie with a = 5.68, b ----3.98,c := 5.74 A. The space group is Pmmn and there are two molecules per unit cell.The molecules are arranged in infinite linear chains parallel to the c axis.The packing of the chains approximates closest packing of cylinders.The distance along a chain between the ends of adjacent molecules is short, only 3.01 A. This indicates that strong intermolecular attractions exist along the chains.Cyanogen chloride is isostructural with cyanogen bromide.