Impact of Aromatic Ring Count on the Ability to Participate in Attractive Interactions. Crystal Structure (X-ray) and Solid State Computational (DFT/QTAIM/RDS/Hirshfeld-surfaces) Study of 1,4-di(2-phenyl-1H-imidazol-4-yl)benzene. A Potential Nanotechnology Intrinsic Component

Abstract

The crystal structure of 1,4-di(2-phenyl-1H-imidazol-4-yl)benzene (DPI4B) is determined by X-ray diffraction with a final R-factor of 6.42% at room temperature. It crystallizes with a space group P21/c, Z = 4, a = 5.01790(10), b = 28.8971(6), and c = 12.9362(3) A; β = 98.757(2)°. Two 4-phenyl-1H-imidazole (4PI) fragments are related by inversion symmetry and each makes a dihedral angle of 0° with the benzene rings. Despite the presence of a total number of five homo- and heterocyclic rings in the DPI4B molecule, similarly to 2-phenyl-1H-imidazole (2PI) but in contrast to 1,4-di(1H-imidazol-4-yl)benzene (DI4B) and 4-phenyl-1H-imidazole (4PI), it is almost planar. Each plane containing a terminal phenyl ring makes a small dihedral angle of about 3° with the central benzene ring plane. The average twisting angle of the whole molecule is equal to 7°. The ordering of compounds studied according to the decreasing twisting angle is 4PI > DI4B > DPI4B > 2PI and is the same as that according to hydrogen bond lengt...