Anion-controlled networks of intermolecular interactions in the crystal structure of 9-aminoacridinium salts

Influence of N-protonation on electronic properties of acridine derivatives by quantum crystallography

Applications of 9-aminoacridine (9aa) and its derivatives span fields such as chemistry, biology, and medicine, including anticancer and antimicrobial activities. Protonation of such molecules can alter their bioavailability as weakly basic drugs like aminoacridines exhibit reduced solubility at high pH levels potentially limiting their effectiveness in patients with elevated gastric pH. In this study, we analyse the influence of protonation on the electronic characteristics of the molecular organic crystals of 9-aminoacridine. The application of quantum crystallography, including aspherical atom refinement, has enriched the depiction of electron density in the studied systems and non-covalent interactions, providing more details than previous studies. Our experimental results, combined with a topological analysis of the electron density and its Laplacian, provided detailed descriptions of how protonation changes the electron density distribution around the amine group and water molecule, concurrently decreasing the electron density at bond critical points of N/O-H bonds. Protonation also alters the molecular architecture of the systems under investigation. This is reflected in different proportions of the N⋯H and O⋯H intermolecular contacts for the neutral and protonated forms. Periodic DFT calculations of the cohesive energies of the crystal lattice, as well as computed interaction energies between molecules in the crystal, confirm that protonation stabilises the crystal structure due to a positive synergy between strong halogen and hydrogen bonds. Our findings highlight the potential of quantum crystallography in predicting crystal structure properties and point to its possible applications in developing new formulations for poorly soluble drugs.

Crystal structure of 9-amino-acridinium chloride N,N-di-methyl-formamide monosolvate

9-Amino-acridinium chloride N,N-di-methyl-formamide monosolvate, C13H11N2 +Cl-·C3H7NO, crystallizes in the monoclinic space group P21/c. The salt was crystallized from N,N-di-methyl-formamide. The asymmetric unit consists of two C13H11N2 +Cl- formula units. The 9-amino-acridinium (9-AA) mol-ecules are protonated with the proton on the N atom of the central ring. This N atom is connected to an N,N-di-methyl-formamide mol-ecule by a hydrogen bond. The H atoms of the amino groups create short contacts with two chloride ions. The 9-AA cations in adjacent layers are oriented in an anti-parallel manner. The mol-ecules are linked via a network of multidirectional π-π inter-actions between the 9-AA rings, and the whole lattice is additionally stabilized by electrostatic inter-actions between ions.

N-Substituted Acridinium as a Multi-Responsive Recognition Unit in Supramolecular Chemistry

The N-substituted acridinium motif is an electron-deficient unit with appealing multi-responsive properties which have been exploited in the field of supramolecular chemistry. This building block reversibly alters its shape, with its chemical and optical properties in response to a chemical or redox signal. In this Review, we discuss selected examples where the switchable properties of 9-aryl-N-methyl-acridinium lead to actuators, multi-input and multi-output systems, host or guest systems, and to interlocked systems with controllable motion.