Structural elucidation of phenoxybenzaldehyde derivatives from laboratory powder X-ray diffraction: A combined experimental and theoretical quantum mechanical study

Abstract

Crystal structure of two new phenoxybenzaldehyde derivatives, 4-(4-bromophenoxy)benzaldehyde (1) and 4-(4-nitrophenoxy)benzaldehyde (2), have been determined from laboratory X-ray powder diffraction data. The synergies of intermolecular C–H···O hydrogen bond, π···π, anion···π and lone-pair(l.p)···π interactions assemble the molecules into supramolecular frameworks. The quantum chemical calculation has been performed to analyze and characterize weak noncovalent interactions in the molecules. Analysis of Hirshfeld surfaces of the compounds showed that the crystal structures are primarily characterized by H···H, H···C and H···O contacts. Bader's theory of ‘atoms-in-molecules’ (AIM) is applied to describe the noncovalent interactions for (1) and (2). The supramolecular frameworks are further characterized by theoretical ‘Noncovalent Interaction’ (NCI) plot index.