Crystal structure of bis-(N-methyl-N-phenyl-amino)-tris-ulfane

The title compound, C14H16N2S3, crystallized with two independent mol-ecules [(1 a ) and (1 b )] in the asymmetric unit. Both mol-ecules display a pseudo-trans conformation. The two consecutive S-S bond lengths of the tris-ulfane unit of mol-ecule (1 a ) are 2.06 (3) and 2.08 (3) Å, and 2.08 (3) and 2.07 (2) Å for mol-ecule (1 b ). Torsion angles about each of the two S-S bonds are 86.6 (2) and 87.0 (2)° for (1 a ), and -84.6 (2) and -85.9 (2)° for (1 b ). The core atoms, viz. the N-S-S-S-N moiety, of the two mol-ecules superimpose well if one is inverted on the other, but the phenyl groups do not. Thus, the two units are essentially conformational enanti-omers. In mol-ecule (1 a ), the two phenyl rings are inclined to one another by 86.7 (3)°, and in mol-ecule (1 b ), by 81.1 (3)°. In the crystal, mol-ecules are linked via C-H⋯π inter-actions, forming sheets lying parallel to (010).