What is "isostructural"

a. Having the same, or a corresponding, structure

Isostructural chemical compounds have similar chemical structures. Isomorphous when used in the relation to crystal structures is essentially synonymous. The IUCR definition used by crystallographers is:

Examples include:

• I- Gold(I) bromide is isostructural with gold(I) chloride
• Borazine is isostructural with benzene
• Indium(I) bromide is isostructural with β- thallium(I) iodide and has a distorted rock salt structure.

Many minerals are isostructural when they differ only in the nature of a cation.

Compounds which are isoelectronic usually have similar chemical structures. For example, methane, CH, and the ammonium ion, NH, are isoelectric and are isostructural as both have a tetrahedral structure. The C-H and N-H bond lengths are different and crystal structures are completely different because the ammonium ion only occurs in salts.