Dichloridotris(trimethyl­phosphine)nickel(II)

The title compound, [NiCl(2)(C(3)H(9)P)(3)], was obtained as a product of the reaction of [NiCl(2)(PMe(3))(2)] with an equivalent trimethyl­phosphine in diethyl ether. It easily loses trimethyl­phosphine at room temperature to give NiCl(2)(PMe(3))(2). There are two independent mol­ecules in the asymmetric unit, and their bond lengths and angles are similar. The Ni environment is trigonal bipyramidal. One Ni, one P and two Cl atoms lie in the equatorial plane, with the remaining two P atoms occupying axial positions. The equatorial Ni—P bond length is shorter than the axial bond lengths.