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Crystal structure of ethidium bromide

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Abstract

Crystals of ethidium bromide (2,7-diamino-9-phenyl-10-ethylphenanthridinium bromide) monohydrate are monoclinic,a = 9·577,b = 10·698,c = 20·242 Å, β = 106·34 °,Z = 4, space groupP21/c. The structure was determined with CuKα. diffractometer data by direct methods, and was refined by full-matrix least-squares methods toR = 0·058 for 2151 observed reflexions.

The phenanthridinium ring is slightly non-planar; the phenyl ring makes an angle of 97 ° with the mean plane of the phenanthridine ring, and the ethyl group is rotated about the N-C bond 84 ° out of the mean plane. One of the amino nitrogen atoms has a pyramidal and the other a planar configuration. Only three of the six active hydrogen atoms participate in a hydrogen-bonding scheme, which involves the pyramidal nitrogen atom, the water molecule and the bromide ion. The phenanthridine rings of two molecules related by a centre of symmetry are separated by 3·50 Å.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, University of British Columbia, Vancouver 8, B.C., Canada

    E. Subramanian & James Trotter

  2. Institute of Dental Research and Department of Biochemistry, University of Alabama Medical Center, 35233, Birmingham, Alabama, USA

    Charles E. Bugg

Authors
  1. E. Subramanian
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  2. James Trotter
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  3. Charles E. Bugg
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Additional information

E.S. and J.T. thank the National Research Council of Canada for financial support, and the University of British Columbia Computing Centre for assistance; C.E.B. thanks the U.S. Public Health Service for support under research grant DE-02670.

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Subramanian, E., Trotter, J. & Bugg, C.E. Crystal structure of ethidium bromide. Journal of Crystal and Molecular Structure 1, 3–15 (1971). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01200914

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