1H-Imidazol-3-ium-4-carboxyl-ate

Abstract

In the title compound, C(4)H(4)N(2)O(2), both imidazole N atoms are protonated and carboxyl-ate group is deprotonated, resulting in a zwitterion. The mol-ecule is essentially planar, with an r.m.s. deviation of 0.012 (1) Å. In the crystal, N-H⋯O hydrogen bonds and π-π stacking inter-actions [centroid-centroid distance = 3.674 (2) Å] between the imidazole rings link the mol-ecules into a three-dimensional supra-molecular network.

Fig. 1.

The structure of the title compound, showing the atom-labelling scheme and displacement ellipsoids drawn at the 30% probability level.

Fig. 2.

A view showing part of the three-dimensional supramolecular network linked by N–H···O hydrogen bonds and π-π stacking interactions. Hydrogen bonds and π-π stacking interactions are shown as dashed lines. Symmetry codes: (i) -x + 1/2, y - 1/2, z + 1/2; (ii) -x, -y + 1, z + 1/2; (v) x, y, z + 1.