A structural study of tautomerism and hydrogen-bonding in supramolecular assemblies

The synthesis and X-ray structures of four new crystalline materials incorporating 'dimers' assembled from two different units possessing complementary hydrogen bonding motifs are reported; namely, phthalimide and 3-iminoisoindolinone or 2-guanidinobenzimidazole (or selected methylated derivatives) and 2-guanidinobenzoxazole. The bonding within each dimer involves a triplet of hydrogen bonds. The extended supramolecular structures are compared with each other as well as with two related structures described previously. The effect of using complementary DAD/ADA motifs that are not symmetrical on the respective supramolecular structures is also examined as is the prospect of incorporating different tautomeric components into the supramolecular structures. The presence of a very short, proton-transferred hydrogen bond within the respective triplets is also discussed.