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Distortions of the directional requirements in halogen…halogen contacts between hexachloroethane (HCE), C2Cl6, molecules lead to a loose crystal under ambient conditions. Single-crystal X-ray diffraction shows that the orthorhombic HCE phase of space group Pnma, with the molecules in the staggered conformation, extends at least from 85 to 305 K and from 0.1 MPa to 5.42 GPa. At ambient pressure, all intermolecular distances are longer than the sum of van der Waals radii, reached only at the pressure of ca. 1.2 GPa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In pentachloroethane, C2HCl5, high pressure initially strongly compresses the C–H…Cl bonds in phase I; however, in phase II which is stable above 0.62 GPa the role of hydrogen bonds is diminished and molecular aggregation is dominated by halogen bonds Cl…Cl. Both phases have been determined by X-ray diffraction and the phase diagram of C2HCl5 has been outlined. The transition between phases I and II retains some relation between their structures and reduces the symmetry from class mmm (space group Pnma) to 2/m (space group P21/n11). The discontinuous transition, with the shear strain exceeding 21°, is so strong that its progress can be visually observed even for powdered samples. The single-crystal growth suggests a surface-roughening transition, as phase I grows in the form of dendrites combining into oval plates, while phase II forms prisms with sharp edges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of 1,2-dihalotetrafluoroethanes X(CF2)2X (X = Br, I) has been in-situpressure crystallized in a diamond-anvil cell (DAC), their structures determined by single crystal X-ray diffraction and rationalized by weak intermolecular interactions. For isoelectronic and isostructural 1,2-dibromotetrafluoroethane (BrCF2CF2Br), 1,2-diiodotetrafluoroethane (ICF2CF2I) and 1-bromo-2-iodotetrafluoroethane (BrCF2CF2I), the crystals are monoclinic, space group P21/n, with the midpoint of the C–C bond located at the centre of inversion. The freezing pressures of these compounds have been determined to be 0.80 GPa, 0.30(5) GPa and 0.10(5) GPa for BrCF2CF2Br, BrCF2CF2I and CF2ICF2I, respectively. In the structure of ICF2CF2I, the –CF2–CF2– moiety is orientationally disordered at 0.16 GPa, but it becomes ordered at 0.86 GPa; in the BrCF2CF2I crystal the Br and I atoms are substitutionally disordered; and the BrCF2CF2Br structure is completely ordered. The formation of isostructural crystals by these compounds and different types of molecular disorder can be rationalized by the intermolecular interactions at varied thermodynamical conditions. The phenomenon of “self-healing” has been observed, in which crystal defects, formed during initial crystallization in the DAC, repaired themselves during the annealing process, which greatly facilitates the formation of single crystals. Pressure considerably affects the crystal morphology of ICF2CF2I, where the elimination of –CF2–CF2– disorder coincides with the appearance of dendritic forms of the crystal phases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]