Two rhod­amine derivatives: 9‐[2‐(ethoxycarbonyl)phenyl]‐3,6‐bis(ethyl­amino)‐2,7‐di­methyl­xanthyl­ium chloride monohydrate and 3,6‐di­amino‐9‐[2‐(methoxy­carbonyl)­phenyl]xanthyl­ium chloride trihydrate

The title compounds, C₂₈H₃₁N₂O₃⁺·Cl^?·H₂O (common name rhod­amine‐6g), (I), and C₂₁H₁₇N₂O₃⁺·Cl^?·3H₂O (common name rhod­amine‐123), (II), both have planar xanthene skeletons with a formal +1 charge on the amino N atoms delocalized through the π‐electron system so that the N—Csp² bond distances indicate significant double‐bond character. The substituted planar phenyl groups make angles of 63.29 (8) and 87.96 (11)° with the xanthene planes in (I) and (II), respectively. In both mol­ecules, the carbonyl bond vectors point toward the xanthene rings. The ethyl­amine groups in (I) are oriented similarly with their CH₂–CH₃ bond vectors pointing nearly perpendicular to the xanthene plane. The chloride ions and water mol­ecules are disordered in both structures. In (I), the chloride ion and water mol­ecule are disordered between two sites. One water and chloride alternately occupy the same site with occupancy factors of 0.5. The other 0.5‐chloride and 0.5‐water occupy two distinct positions separated by 0.747 (8) Å. In (II), the chloride ion is disordered between three sites and one of the waters is disordered about two other sites. Both crystal structures are stabilized by hydrogen bonds involving the chloride ions, amino groups and water mol­ecules, as well as by π–π stacking between xanthene planes.