THE X-RAY STRUCTURE OF THE TRICHLOROCUPRATE OF NAPHTHO-15-CROWN-5 COMPLEXED POTASSIUM

The structure of the trichlorocuprate of naphtho-15-crown-5 complexed potassium has been determined by X-ray analysis. The crystal contains the complex cations [K(naphtho-15-crown-5)2]+, the anion [CU2Cl6]2- an d water molecules. The full composition of the compound in the solid s tate is represented by the formula [K(naphtho-15-crown-5)2]2[CU2Cl6] . nH2O), where n congruent-to 3. The sandwich type cations are similar to those found previously for potassium complexes with benzo-15-crown- 5. The coordination number of potassium is equal to 10; the coordinati on polyhedron is a pentagonal antiprism. The water molecules are disor dered and occupy six symmetrically independent positions with a probab ility of approximately 0.5 in the crystal. The lack of close contacts between water molecules and the remaining components enabled the treat ment of the complex as a clathrate.