The Structure of the Mo_6Cl_(14)-- Complex in the Crystal (NH_4)_2(Mo_6Cl_8)Cl_6·H_2O

Some years ago, at the suggestion of Professor Linus Pauling, I began an x-ray study of the compound ((NH_4)_2(Mo_6Cl_8)Cl_6·H_2O. It forms crystals with space group C^4_s-Cc and unit cell parameters a_1 = 19.33 Å, a_2 = 14.93 Å, a_3 = 9.16 Å, and β = 115.2°. The volume of the unit cell is 2390 Å^3, which, for four formulae per cell, leads to calculated density 3.12 g. cm.^(-3), in good agreement with the observed density 3.09 g. cm.^(-3), determined by flotation.