Nine isomeric nitrobenzylidene-iodoanilines: interplay of C—H...O hydrogen bonds, iodo...nitro interactions and aromatic π...π stacking interactions
Nine isomeric nitrobenzylidene-iodoanilines, O2NC6H4CH= NC6H4I [(I)–(IX)], have been synthesized and the structures of all except 4-nitrobenzylidene-4′-iodoaniline (IX) have been analyzed. 2-Nitrobenzylidene-2′-iodoaniline (I) contains isolated molecules, while 3-nitrobenzylidene-2′-iodoaniline (II) and 2-nitrobenzylidene-3′-iodoaniline (IV) both contain chains of molecules linked by C—H...O hydrogen bonds: similar chains in 4-nitrobenzylidene-2′-iodoaniline (III) are further linked by aromatic π...π stacking interactions, forming sheets. In both 3-nitrobenzylidene-3′-iodoaniline and 4-nitrobenzylidene-3′-iodoaniline, (V) and (VI), a combination of C—H...O hydrogen bonds and iodo...nitro interactions generates molecular ladders that are linked into sheets by aromatic π...π stacking interactions, while in 2-nitrobenzylidene-4′-iodoaniline and 3-nitrobenzylidene-4′-iodoaniline, (VII) and (VIII), which both crystallize with Z′ = 2 in C2/c and P\bar 1, respectively, the combination of C—H...O hydrogen bonds and iodo...nitro interactions generates sheets, which in (VIII) are further linked by π...π stacking interactions to form a three-dimensional structure. The 4,4′-isomer (IX) crystallizes in Fdd2 with Z′ = 2, but both molecules are intractably disordered.