FROM CRYSTAL TO CRYSTAL - A RECONSTRUCTIVE SOLID-STATE REACTION

The crystal structure of the Lewis acid-base adduct of 2-chloro-2-bora indane and diethylether was determined by X-ray diffraction. After abs traction of the boron-coordinated Et2O molecule in vacuo, the crystal and molecular structure of the solvent-free boraindane, earlier synthe sized by Kaufmann and Schacht [1], was studied on the resulting crysta lline material. The different crystal packing in both structures and a diffraction experiment on an oriented single crystal showed that the reaction is reconstructive and that a rearrangement of the molecules p arallels the change in molecular geometry.