Hydrogen bonding in two benzene‐1,2‐diaminium pyridine‐2‐carboxylate salts and a cocrystal of benzene‐1,2‐diamine and benzoic acid

The isostructural salts benzene‐1,2‐diaminium bis(pyridine‐2‐carboxylate), 0.5C₆H₁₀N₂²⁺·C₆H₄NO₂^?, (1), and 4,5‐dimethylbenzene‐1,2‐diaminium bis(pyridine‐2‐carboxylate), 0.5C₈H₁₄N₂²⁺·C₆H₄NO₂^?, (2), and the 1:2 benzene‐1,2‐diamine–benzoic acid cocrystal, 0.5C₆H₈N₂·C₇H₆O₂, (3), are reported. All of the compounds exhibit extensive N—H…O hydrogen bonding that results in interconnected rings. O—H…N hydrogen bonding is observed in (3). Additional π–π and C—H…π interactions are found in each compound. Hirshfeld and fingerprint plot analyses reveal the primary intermolecular interactions and density functional theory was used to calculate their strengths. Salt formation by (1) and (2), and cocrystallization by (3) are rationalized by examining pK_a differences. The R₂²(9) hydrogen‐bonding motif is common to each of these structures.