trans-Chlorido(phenyl)bis(triphenylphosphine)nickel(II) and its 1:1 cocrystal with chloridobis(triphenylphosphine)nickel(I).

Two conformational polymorphs of trans-chlorido(phenyl)bis(triphenylphosphine)nickel(II), [Ni(C(6)H(5))Cl(C(18)H(15)P)(2)], (1), viz. orange needle-shaped crystals (form I) and brown prism-shaped crystals (form II), were obtained under different crystallization conditions from a mixture of toluene and n-hexane, and characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction at low temperature. These two forms were compared with that published previously [Zeller, Herdtweck & Strassner (2003). Eur. J. Inorg. Chem. pp. 1802-1806], characterized at room temperature. Additionally, blue-green prisms of a 1:1 cocrystal of complex (1) with chloridobis(triphenylphosphine)nickel(I), (2), viz. trans-chlorido(phenyl)bis(triphenylphosphine)nickel(II)-chloridobis(triphenylphosphine)nickel(I) (1/1), [Ni(C(6)H(5))Cl(C(18)H(15)P)(2)].[NiCl(C(18)H(15)P)(2)], (3), were obtained concomitantly with form I. In forms I and II, as well as in the cocrystal, the overall crystal packings are determined by an energetic interplay between intramolecular torsions and weak intermolecular C-H...pi and C-H...Cl interactions.