In the structures of the title salts, poly[[μ4-4-(3,5-dinitropyrazol-4-yl)-3,5-dinitropyrazol-1-ido]rubidium], [Rb(C6HN8O8)]
n
, (1), and its isostructural caesium analogue [Cs(C6HN8O8)
n
, (2), two independent cations M1 and M2 (M = Rb, Cs) are situated on a crystallographic twofold axis and on a center of inversion, respectively. Mutual intermolecular hydrogen bonding between the conjugate 3,5-dinitopyrazole NH-donor and 3,5-dinitropyrazole N-acceptor sites of the anions [N...N = 2.785 (2) Å for (1) and 2.832 (3) Å for (2)] governs the self-assembly of the translation-related anions in a predictable fashion. Such one-component modular construction of the organic subtopology supports the utility of the crystal-engineering approach towards designing the structures of polynitro energetic materials. The anionic chains are further linked by multiple ion–dipole interactions involving the 12-coordinate cations bonded to two pyrazole N-atoms [Rb—N = 3.1285 (16), 3.2261 (16) Å; Cs—N = 3.369 (2), 3.401 (2) Å] and all of the eight nitro O-atoms [Rb—O = 2.8543 (15)–3.6985 (16) Å; Cs—O = 3.071 (2)–3.811 (2) Å]. The resulting ionic networks follow the CsCl topological archetype, with either metal or organic ions residing in an environment of eight counter-ions. Weak lone pair–π-hole interactions [pyrazole-N atoms to NO2 groups; N...N = 2.990 (3)–3.198 (3) Å] are also relevant to the packing. The Hirshfeld surfaces and percentage two-dimensional fingerprint plots for (1) and (2) are described.
Cover Feature: Energy-Landscape-Independent Kinetic Trap of an Incomplete Cage in the Self-Assembly of a Pd2
L4
Cage (Chem. Eur. J. 35/2018)