Crystal structure of bis­(N-methyl-N-phenyl­amino)­tris­ulfane

The title compound, C(14)H(16)N(2)S(3), crystallized with two independent mol­ecules [(1 a) and (1 b)] in the asymmetric unit. Both mol­ecules display a pseudo-trans conformation. The two consecutive S—S bond lengths of the tris­ulfane unit of mol­ecule (1 a) are 2.06 (3) and 2.08 (3) Å, and 2.08 (3) and 2.07 (2) Å for mol­ecule (1 b). Torsion angles about each of the two S—S bonds are 86.6 (2) and 87.0 (2)° for (1 a), and −84.6 (2) and −85.9 (2)° for (1 b). The core atoms, viz. the N—S—S—S—N moiety, of the two mol­ecules superimpose well if one is inverted on the other, but the phenyl groups do not. Thus, the two units are essentially conformational enanti­omers. In mol­ecule (1 a), the two phenyl rings are inclined to one another by 86.7 (3)°, and in mol­ecule (1 b), by 81.1 (3)°. In the crystal, mol­ecules are linked via C—H⋯π inter­actions, forming sheets lying parallel to (010).