Abstract: | The crystal structures of two symmetrical pyridine‐2‐carboxamides, namely N,N′‐(propane‐1,3‐diyl)bis(pyridine‐2‐carboxamide), C15H16N4O2, (I), and N,N′‐(butane‐1,4‐diyl)bis(pyridine‐2‐carboxamide), C16H18N4O2, (II), exhibit extended hydrogen‐bonded sequences involving their amide groups. In (I), conventional bifurcated amide–carbonyl (N—H)...O hydrogen bonding favours the formation of one‐dimensional chains, the axes of which run parallel to [001]. Unconventional bifurcated pyridine–carbonyl C—H...O hydrogen bonding links adjacent one‐dimensional chains to form a `porous' three‐dimensional lattice with interconnected, yet unfilled, voids of 60.6 (2) Å3 which combine into channels that run parallel to, and include, [001]. 4% of the unit‐cell volume of (I) is vacant. Compound (II) adopts a Z‐shaped conformation with inversion symmetry, and exhibits an extended structure comprising one‐dimensional hydrogen‐bonded chains along [100] in which individual molecules are linked by complementary pairs of amide N—H...O hydrogen bonds. These hydrogen‐bonded chains interlock viaπ–π interactions between pyridine rings of neighbouring molecules to form sheets parallel with (010); each sheet is one Z‐shaped molecule thick and separated from the next sheet by the b‐axis dimension [7.2734 (4) Å]. |