The structure of Cl8Si8O12 is compared with those of the isostructural
compounds H8Si8O12 and (CH3)(8)Si8O12. The geometric deformations in
Cl8Si8O12 seem to originate from the joint effect of intermolecular pa
cking interactions (interelectronic repulsion) and electronic factors
(electronegativity of the chlorine substituent).