Conformational flexibility in amidophosphoesters: a CSD analysis completed with two new crystal structures of (C6H5O)2P(O)X [X = NHC7H13 and N(CH2C6H5)2]

The crystal structures of diphenyl (cycloheptylamido)phosphate, C₁₉H₂₄NO₃P or (C₆H₅O)₂P(O)(NHC₇H₁₃), ( I ), and diphenyl (dibenzylamido)phosphate, C₂₆H₂₄NO₃P or (C₆H₅O)₂P(O)N(CH₂C₆H₅)₂], ( II ), are reported. The NHC₇H₁₃ group in ( I ) provides two significant hydrogen‐donor sites in N—H…O and C—H…O hydrogen bonds, needed for a one‐dimensional hydrogen‐bond pattern along 100] in the crystal, while ( II ), with a (C₆H₅CH₂)₂N moiety, lacks these hydrogen bonds, but its three‐dimensional supramolecular structure is mediated by C—H…π interactions. The conformational behaviour of the phenyl rings in ( I ), ( II ) and analogous structures from the Cambridge Structural Database (CSD) were studied in terms of flexibility, volume of the other group attached to phosphorus and packing forces. From this study, synclinal (±sc), anticlinal (±ac) and antiperiplanar (±ap) conformations were found to occur. In the structure of ( II ), there is an intramolecular C_ortho—H…O interaction that imposes a +sc conformation for the phenyl ring involved. For the structures from the CSD, the +sc and ±ap conformations appear to be mainly imposed by similar C_ortho—H…O intramolecular interactions. The large contribution of the C…H/H…C contacts (32.3%) in the two‐dimensional fingerprint plots of ( II ) is a result of the C—H…π interactions. The differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) analyses exhibit peak temperatures (T_m) at 109 and 81 °C for ( I ) and ( II ), respectively, which agree with the strengths of the intermolecular contacts and the melting points.