Crystal structure of chlorido­bis­­[(1,2,5,6-η)-cyclo­octa-1,5-diene]iridium(I)

The title complex, [IrCl(C8H12)2], was synthesized directly from the reaction of IrCl3·3H2O with a large excess of cod (cod = cyclo­octa-1,5-diene) in alcoholic solvent. Large yellow needles were obtained by the slow cooling of a hot solution. Based on the positions of the chloride ligand and the mid-points of the four C=C bonds, the mol­ecule adopts a five-coordinate geometry that is midway between square pyramidal and trigonal bipyramidal. The material crystallizes in the ortho­rhom­bic space group Pbca with one mol­ecule per asymmetric unit in a general position and shows no significant inter­molecular inter­actions. Individual mol­ecules are aligned along [010], and these rows form a pseudo-hexa­gonal packing arrangement.