Cyclic heterotetrameric and low‐dimensional hydrogen‐bonded polymeric structures in the morpholinium salts of ring‐substituted benzoic acid analogues

The morpholinium (tetrahydro‐2H‐1,4‐oxazin‐4‐ium) cation has been used as a counter‐ion in both inorganic and organic salt formation and particularly in metal complex stabilization. To examine the influence of interactive substituent groups in the aromatic rings of benzoic acids upon secondary structure generation, the anhydrous salts of morpholine with salicylic acid, C₄H₁₀NO⁺·C₇H₅O₃⁻, (I), 3,5‐dinitrosalicylic acid, C₄H₁₀NO⁺·C₇H₃N₂O₇⁻, (II), 3,5‐dinitrobenzoic acid, C₄H₁₀NO⁺·C₇H₃N₂O₆⁻, (III), and 4‐nitroanthranilic acid, C₄H₁₀NO⁺·C₇H₅N₂O₄⁻, (IV), have been prepared and their hydrogen‐bonded crystal structures are described. In the crystal structures of (I), (III) and (IV), the cations and anions are linked by moderately strong N—H…O_carboxyl hydrogen bonds, but the secondary structure propagation differs among the three, viz. one‐dimensional chains extending along 010] in (I), a discrete cyclic heterotetramer in (III), and in (IV), a heterotetramer with amine N—H…O hydrogen‐bond extensions along b, giving a two‐layered ribbon structure. With the heterotetramers in both (III) and (IV), the ion pairs are linked though inversion‐related N—H…O_carboxylate hydrogen bonds, giving cyclic R₄⁴(12) motifs. With (II), in which the anion is a phenolate rather than a carboxylate, the stronger assocation is through a symmetric lateral three‐centre cyclic R₁²(6) N—H…(O,O′) hydrogen‐bonding linkage involving the phenolate and nitro O‐atom acceptors of the anion, with extension through a weaker O—H…O_carboxyl hydrogen bond. This results in a one‐dimensional chain structure extending along 100]. In the structures of two of the salts i.e. (II) and (IV)], there are also π–π ring interactions, with ring‐centroid separations of 3.5516 (9) and 3.7700 (9) Å in (II), and 3.7340 (9) Å in (IV).