The Coordination Polyhedra BCn in Crystal Structures

Abstract

The method of intersecting spheres and Voronoi–Dirichlet polyhedra are used for crystal chemical analysis of 3817 structures comprising 4533 crystallographically nonequivalent sorts of boron atoms contained in BC_n coordination polyhedra. In these coordination polyhedra, boron has coordination numbers (CNs) from 2 to 6, the CN 4 being most typical. With increasing boron CN, the average B–C interatomic distances of the BC_n polyhedra increase by 0.01–0.13 Å, while the average radii of the spheres whose volumes are equal to the volumes of the Voronoi–Dirichlet polyhedra of boron atoms virtually do not vary within the determination error. The characteristic features of intermolecular contacts in the structures of two crystalline hydrates, Fe[B(CN)₄]₂ · 2H₂O and Fe[B(CN)₄]₃ · 6H₂O, are considered according to the method of Voronoi–Dirichlet molecular polyhedra.