A high resolution powder X-ray diffraction study of the products of reaction of dimethyl sulfide with bromine;: crystal and molecular structures of (CH3)2SBrn (n = 2, 2.5 or 4)

The crystal and molecular structures of three reaction products formed between dimethyl sulfide and bromine have been characterised by high resolution powder synchrotron X-ray diffraction. Depending on the method of preparation, three compounds have been identified as (CH3)(2)SBr2, (CH3)(2)SBr2.5 and (CH3)(2)SBr4. The first, synthesised by the addition of bromine to dimethyl sulfide, was isolated as a single phase and is a charge-transfer adduct. The other two, both containing (CH3)(2)SBr+-like species, were found coprecipitated when dimethyl sulfide was added to bromine at -30 degrees C.