Hydrogen‐bond‐directed supramolecular arrays in 4,4′‐bipyridinium tetrachloroterephthalate dihydrate and bis(1,10‐phenanthrolinium) tetrachloroterephthalate tetrachloroterephthalic acid trihydrate

The title compounds, C₁₀H₁₀N₂²⁺·C₈Cl₄O₄^2?·2H₂O, (I), and 2C₁₂H₉N₂⁺·C₈Cl₄O₄^2?·C₈H₂Cl₄O₄·3H₂O, (II), both crystallize as charge‐transfer organic salts with the dianionic or neutral acid components lying on inversion centres. The acid and base subunits in (I) arrange alternately to generate a linear tape motif via N—H...O hydrogen bonds; these tapes are further combined into a three‐dimensional architecture through multiple O—H...O and C—H...O interactions involving solvent water molecules. In contrast, the neutral and anionic acid components in (II) are linked to form a zigzag chain by means of O—H...O hydrogen bonds between acid groups, with dangling 1,10‐phenanthrolinium units connected to these chains by carboxylate–pyridinium interactions with R₂²(7) hydrogen‐bond notation. Adjacent chains are further extended to result in a two‐dimensional corrugated layer network viaπ–π interactions. Inter‐ion Cl...O interactions are also found in both (I) and (II).