Crystal structure of bis(N-methyl-N-phenylamino)-trisulfane

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