Dichloro­diphenoxy­methane

The title compound, C(13)H(10)Cl(2)O(2), is a mixed derivative of orthocarbonic acid. The non-crystallographic symmetry of the mol-ecule is close to C(2v). The aromatic residues are oriented in a syn conformation with respect to the Cl atoms. The least-squares planes through the phenyl rings enclose an angle of 36.11 (10)°. The C-O bonds at the central carbon are relatively short, and the O-C-O and Cl-C-Cl angles are smaller than the tetra-hedral angle. These metrical peculiarities including a mol-ecular symmetry close to C(2v) are also observed in density functional theory (DFT) calculations, thus ruling out the decisive influence of inter-molecular forces in the crystal structure. Accordingly, only few and weak inter-molecular inter-actions are found. At distances smaller than the sum of the van der Waals radii, only two attractive inter-actions are detected: a weak C-H⋯O and a weak C-H⋯Cl hydrogen bond to one of the two potential acceptor atoms each.