Evidence of dimer formation in neat liquid 1,3,5-trifluorobenzene

1,3,5-Trifluorobenzene neat liquid has been studied in comparison with benzene and perfluorinated benzene using neutron diffraction experiments and molecular dynamics simulation. These investigations reveal that the short-range local order is markedly different in 1,3,5-trifluorobenzene liquid, and involves ‘dimers’, in which the molecules have a parallel stacked configuration, and an average intermolecular distance of less than 4 Å.