Structures of 1‐hydrophenanthroimidazoles: building blocks in the synthesis of expanded‐ring bis(imidazoles)

The structures of 1H‐phenanthro[9,10‐d]imidazole, C₁₅H₁₀N₂, (I), and 3,6‐dibromo‐1H‐phenanthro[9,10‐d]imidazole hemihydrate, C₁₅H₈Br₂N₂·0.5H₂O, (II), contain hydrogen‐bonded polymeric chains linked by columns of π–π stacked essentially planar phenanthroimidazole monomers. In the structure of (I), the asymmetric unit consists of two independent molecules, denoted (Ia) and (Ib), of 1H‐phenanthro[9,10‐d]imidazole. Alternating molecules of (Ia) and (Ib), canted by 79.07 (3)°, form hydrogen‐bonded zigzag polymer chains along the a‐cell direction. The chains are linked by π–π stacking of molecules of (Ia) and (Ib) along the b‐cell direction. In the structure of (II), the asymmetric unit consists of two independent molecules of 3,6‐dibromo‐1H‐phenanthro[9,10‐d]imidazole, denoted (IIa) and (IIb), along with a molecule of water. Alternating molecules of (IIa), (IIb) and water form hydrogen‐bonded polymer chains along the [110] direction. The donor–acceptor distances in these N(imine)...H—O(water)...H—N(amine) hydrogen bonds are the shortest thus far reported for imidazole amine and imine hydrogen‐bond interactions with water. Centrosymmetrically related molecules of (IIa) and (IIb) alternate in columns along the a‐cell direction and are canted by 48.27 (3)°. The present study provides the first examples of structurally characterized 1H‐phenanthroimidazoles.