Crystal structure of zwitterionic 3,3′-[1,1′-(butane-1,4-diyl)bis(1H-imidazol-3-ium-3,1-diyl)]bis(propane-1-sulfonate) dihydrate

Abstract

The crystal structure of the title compound, C16H26N4O6S2·2H2O, a water-soluble di-N-heterocyclic carbene ligand precursor was determined using a single crystal grown by the slow cooling of a hot N,N-dimethylformamide solution of the compound. The dihydrate crystallizes in the monoclinic space group P21/c, with half of the zwitterionic molecule and one water molecule of crystallization in the asymmetric unit. The remaining part of the molecule is completed by inversion symmetry. In the molecule, the imidazole ring planes are parallel with a plane-to-plane distance of 2.741 (2) Å. The supramolecular network is consolidated by hydrogen bonds of medium strength between the zwitterionic molecules and the water molecules of crystallization, as well as by π–π stacking interactions between the imidazole rings of neighbouring molecules and C—H...O hydrogen-bonding interactions.