A new polymorph and two pseudopolymorphs of pyrimethamine

Due to its donor–acceptor–donor site, the antimalarial drug pyrimethamine [systematic name: 5‐(4‐chlorophenyl)‐6‐ethylpyrimidine‐2,4‐diamine] is a potential component of a supramolecular synthon. During a cocrystallization screen, one new polymorph of solvent‐free pyrimethamine, C₁₂H₁₃ClN₄, (I), and two pseudopolymorphs, pyrimethamine dimethyl sulfoxide monosolvate, C₁₂H₁₃ClN₄·C₂H₆OS, (Ia), and pyrimethamine N‐methylpyrrolidin‐2‐one monosolvate, C₁₂H₁₃ClN₄·C₅H₉NO, (Ib), were obtained. In (I), (Ia), (Ib) and the previously reported polymorph, the pyrimethamine molecules exhibit similar conformations and form R²₂(8) dimers stabilized by a pair of N—H...N hydrogen bonds. However, the packing arrangements are completely different. In (I), the dimers are connected by two additional N—H...N hydrogen bonds to form ribbons and further connected into a two‐dimensional network parallel to (100), while layers containing N—H...Cl hydrogen‐bonded pyrimethamine ribbons are observed in the packing of the known polymorph. In the two pseudopolymorphs, two pyrimethamine molecules are linked to form R²₂(8) dimers and the solvent molecules are connected to the dimers by R²₃(8) interactions involving two N—H...O hydrogen bonds. These arrangements are connected to form zigzag chains by N—H...Cl interactions in (Ia) and to form ribbons by N—H...N interactions in (Ib). Unexpectedly, a reaction between pyrimethamine and N‐methylpyrrolidin‐2‐one occurred during another cocrystallization experiment from a solvent mixture of N‐methylpyrrolidin‐2‐one and dimethyl sulfoxide, yielding solvent‐free 5,5′‐{[5‐(4‐chlorophenyl)‐6‐ethylpyrimidine‐2,4‐diyl]bis(azanediyl)}bis(1‐methylpyrrolidin‐2‐one), C₂₂H₂₇ClN₆O₂, (II). In the packing of (II), the pyrimethamine derivatives are N—H...O hydrogen bonded to form ribbons. A database study was carried out to compare the molecular conformations and hydrogen‐bonding interactions of pyrimethamine.