A simple and robust method for the identification of π–π packing motifs of aromatic compounds

Abstract

A simple approach is described for the identification of packing motifs in crystal structures of aromatic molecules using Hirshfeld surfaces and fingerprint plot analysis. The method was first validated by investigating previously studied molecules and establishing trends within these data, and then applied to the analysis of crystal structures of heteroaromatic molecules extracted from the Cambridge Structural Database. A series of cocrystal structures containing these same heteroaromatic molecules were also extracted and investigated using the same method. This simple method appears to be both consistent and robust in distinguishing the different types of packing motifs in structures of aromatic molecules.