Structural characterization of N,N′-bis(2-methoxyethyl) -4,5-bis(2,4,6-trimethylphenyl)imidazolinium hexafluorophosphate

Abstract

The crystal and molecular structure of the N,N′-bis(2-methoxyethyl)-4,5-bis(2,4,6-trimethylphenyl)- imidazolinium hexafluorophosphate, which is the first example of 1,3- and 4,5-disubstituted imidazolinium salts, have been determined and characterized by X-ray single crystal diffraction technique,¹H, ¹³C, ³¹P and ¹⁹F NMR spectroscopy. The compound, C₂₇H₃₉N₂O₂ ⁺·PF₆ ⁻, crystallizes in the orthorhombic space group Pba2 with a = 15.8139(4) Å, b = 22.9346(7) Å, c = 8.069(3) Å. Two charge-assisted C–H$\cdots$F type crystal packing interactions between the imidazolinium C–H bonds and the F atoms of hexafluorophosphate counteranions build up zigzag chains along a-axis of the unit cell and indicate that the C–H bonds of the imidazolinium ring are also polarized. In addition, the title salt was modeled by DFT calculations in order to verify charge transfer mechanism observed in its imidazolinium ring.