Structural aspects of the chlorocyclohexane/thiourea inclusion system

Abstract

Halogenocyclohexane/thiourea inclusion compounds are of considerable chemical interest since the halogenocyclohexane molecules included within them are constrained to exhibit uncharacteristic conformational behaviour. Chlorocyclohexane, for example, exists exclusively in the axial conformation within its thiourea inclusion compound. In this paper, various structural aspects of the chlorocyclohexane/thiourea system are considered. The thiourea (host) substructure has been determined from room-temperature single-crystal X-ray diffraction data, and contains linear, infinite, non-intersecting channels (tunnels) within which the chlorocyclohexane (guest) molecules are located. Although the guest molecules are apparently located at certain preferred sites within the channel, the guest substructure is nevertheless substantially disordered. Computational investigations of host–guest interaction in chlorocyclohexane/thiourea corroborate the features of the guest substructure deduced from the room-temperature X-ray diffraction data.