The compounds (H3C)2S, (H3Si)2S and (H3Ge)2S have been crystallised in situ on a diffractometer and their crystal structures determined by low-temperature X-ray diffraction. The molecules are present as monomers in the crystals. The aggregation of the molecules through secondary intermolecular contacts in the crystal is different: (H3C)2S is weakly associated into dimers by S···S contacts, whereas (H3Si)2S and (H3Ge)2S form Si···S and Ge···S contacts in an ice-analogous aggregation motif. Important geometry parameters are (H3C)2S: C-S 1.794(av) Å , C-S-C 99.2(1)°; (H3Si)2S: Si- S 2.143(1) Å , Si-S-Si 98.4°; (H3Ge)2S Ge-S 2.223(2) and 2.230(2) Å , Ge-S-Ge 98.2(1)◦.
