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ISSN: 2414-3146

N′-(2,6-Di­methyl­phen­yl)-N-phenyl­methanimidamide

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aDépartement de chimie, Université de Montréal, Complexe des sciences, 1375, Avenue Thérèse-Lavoie-Roux, Montréal, Québec, H2V 0B3, Canada, and bDépartement de biochimie, chimie, physique et science forensique and l'Institut de recherche sur l'hydrogène, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, 3351, boul. des Forges, CP 500, Trois-Rivières, Québec, G9A 5H7, Canada
*Correspondence e-mail: [email protected]

Edited by W. T. A. Harrison, University of Aberdeen, United Kingdom (Received 10 September 2025; accepted 3 October 2025; online 28 October 2025)

The title compound, C16H18N2, is a non-symmetrically N,N′-disubstituted acetamidine having a phenyl and a bulky 2,6-di­methyl­phenyl as substituents on the two N atoms of the N—C—N linkage. It crystallizes in an E-syn configuration and its amidine C—N bonds present distinct amine [1.366 (1) Å] and imine [1.288 (1) Å] bond lengths. In the extended structure, strong N—H⋯N hydrogen bonds link the mol­ecules into infinite C(4) chains propagating along the c-axis direction; weak C—H⋯π inter­actions are also present in the crystal packing.

3D view (loading...)
[Scheme 3D1]
Chemical scheme
[Scheme 1]

Structure description

The mol­ecular structure of the title compound, C16H18N2 (1) (Fig. 1[link]) was determined at 100 K. Compound 1 was obtained as a result of a test reaction for synthesizing non-symmetrical amidines under microwave activation by sequential introduction of the N-substituents, with the final goal to serve as precursor for the corresponding amidine-N-oxide/hy­droxy­amidine derivative (Cibian et al., 2011View full citation; Saha et al., 2024View full citation). Although crystallographic evidence of various non-symmetric acetamidines with N,N′-bis­aryl­amidines exists (e.g., Stibrany & Potenza, 2007View full citation; Peoples et al., 2012View full citation), this is the first report of 1, an acetamidine having a phenyl and a bulky 2,6-di­methyl­phenyl as substituents on the two N atoms of the N—C—N linkage. It crystallizes in the monoclinic P21/c space group, in the E-syn configuration (Kalz et al., 2016View full citation). Its amidine C—N bonds present distinct amine [1.366 (1) Å] and imine [1.288 (1) Å] bond lengths, as also found for N,N′-disubstituted aryl­amidine (Boeré et al., 1998View full citation; Cottin et al., 2021View full citation). The phenyl and 2,6-di­methyl­phenyl groups are positioned on the amine and imine N atoms, respectively.

[Figure 1]
Figure 1
The mol­ecular structure of 1, with displacement ellipsoids drawn at 50% probability level.

In 1, the bulky substituted C9–C14 aryl ring and the C3–C8 phenyl ring subtend tilt angles of 85.3 (1) and 40.4 (1)°, respectively, with the N1—C1—N2 plane; the pendant rings are tilted by 64.3 (1)° with respect to each other. The C3—N1—C1—N2 and N1—C1—N2—C9 torsion angles are −11.33 (18) and 176.57 (10)°, respectively.

In the extended structure of 1 (Table 1[link] and Figs. 2[link] and 3[link]), the mol­ecules are linked by N—H⋯N strong hydrogen bonds (Desiraju & Steiner, 2001View full citation) between the amidine H1 proton and the N2 atom of the amidine unit in an adjacent mol­ecule, thereby forming infinite C(4) chains of mol­ecules propagating along the c-axis direction. Weak C—H⋯π inter­actions (Desiraju & Steiner, 2001View full citation) complete the crystal packing.

Table 1
Hydrogen-bond geometry (Å, °)

Cg1 and Cg2 are the centroids of the C3–C8 phenyl and C9–C14 2,6-di­methyl­phenyl rings, respectively.

D—H⋯A D—H H⋯A DA D—H⋯A
N1—H1⋯N2i 0.882 (15) 2.172 (15) 3.0530 (14) 176.3 (14)
C2—H2CCg1i 0.98 2.83 3.5601 (14) 132
C4—H4⋯Cg2i 0.95 2.59 3.5092 (13) 162
C15—H15ACg1ii 0.98 2.83 3.6346 (15) 140
Symmetry codes: (i) Mathematical equation; (ii) Mathematical equation.
[Figure 2]
Figure 2
Part of a [001] hydrogen-bonded chain in the extended structure of 1.
[Figure 3]
Figure 3
View of the crystal packing of 1 in the unit cell.

Synthesis and crystallization

A microwave vial was charged with 600 mg of 4 Å mol­ecular sieves, tri­ethyl­ortho­acetate (1.5 ml, 8.18 mmol, 1 equiv.), 2 drops of acetic acid, and aniline (0.75 ml, 8.18 mmol, 1 equiv.). The reaction was conducted under microwave irradiation at 90 °C for 10 min. After cooling down, 2,6-di­methyl­anilline (1.01 ml, 8.18 mmol, 1 equiv.) was added to the crude reaction mixture and the reaction was continued at 90 °C for another 16 h. Part of the reaction mixture was taken in hexane (the mol­ecular sieves were removed by filtration) and the solution was placed in the freezer (−10 °C). XRD-quality colorless crystals were obtained (0.50 g, 2.10 mmol, partial yield: 26% – only part of the product was purified).

1H NMR (400 MHz, DMSO-d6): 1.69 (s, 3H); 1.99 (s, 6H), 6.76 (t, J = 7.5 Hz, 1H), 6.91 (t, J = 7.3 Hz, 1H), 6.98 (d, J = 7.5 Hz, 2H), 7.25 (t, J = 7.5 Hz, 2H), 7.82 (d, J =7.9 Hz, 2H), 8.87 (s, 1H, NH). 13C NMR (100 MHz, DMSO-d6): 17.9, 18.0, 118.7, 121.0, 121.1, 127.0, 127.5, 128.2, 141.4, 148.5, 152.2 (N—C=N). Elemental analysis C/H/N: calculated (%) for C16H18N2: C 80.63, H 7.61, N 11.75; exp .: C 80.57, H 7.56, N 11.81. HRMS (ESI, positive): m/z [M + H]+ calculated: 239.15428; exp .: 239.15398 (diff. 1.25 p.p.m.).

Refinement

Crystal data, data collection and structure refinement details are summarized in Table 2[link].

Table 2
Experimental details

Crystal data
Chemical formula C16H18N2
Mr 238.32
Crystal system, space group Monoclinic, P21/c
Temperature (K) 100
a, b, c (Å) 7.2094 (1), 21.3517 (4), 8.9033 (2)
β (°) 95.418 (1)
V3) 1364.39 (4)
Z 4
Radiation type Cu Kα
μ (mm−1) 0.53
Crystal size (mm) 0.21 × 0.04 × 0.01 × 0.01 (radius)
 
Data collection
Diffractometer Bruker SMART APEXII CCD
Absorption correction For a sphere (SADABS; Krause et al., 2015View full citation)
Tmin, Tmax 0.807, 0.993
No. of measured, independent and observed [I > 2σ(I)] reflections 21279, 2595, 2160
Rint 0.030
(sin θ/λ)max−1) 0.613
 
Refinement
R[F2 > 2σ(F2)], wR(F2), S 0.038, 0.113, 1.08
No. of reflections 2595
No. of parameters 170
H-atom treatment H atoms treated by a mixture of independent and constrained refinement
Δρmax, Δρmin (e Å−3) 0.28, −0.27
Computer programs: APEX2 (Bruker, 2009View full citation), SAINT (Bruker, 2020View full citation), SHELXT (Sheldrick, 2015aView full citation), SHELXL (Sheldrick, 2015bView full citation), OLEX2 (Dolomanov et al., 2009View full citation), ORTEP-3 for Windows (Farrugia, 2012View full citation), publCIF (Westrip, 2010View full citation), POV-RAY (POVRAY, 2013View full citation), PLATON (Spek, 2020View full citation) and Mercury (Macrae et al., 2020View full citation).

Structural data


Computing details top

N'-(2,6-Dimethylphenyl)-N-phenylmethanimidamide top
Crystal data top
C16H18N2F(000) = 512
Mr = 238.32Dx = 1.160 Mg m3
Monoclinic, P21/cCu Kα radiation, λ = 1.54178 Å
a = 7.2094 (1) ÅCell parameters from 7241 reflections
b = 21.3517 (4) Åθ = 4.1–70.8°
c = 8.9033 (2) ŵ = 0.53 mm1
β = 95.418 (1)°T = 100 K
V = 1364.39 (4) Å3Needle, colourless
Z = 40.21 × 0.04 × 0.01 × 0.01 (radius) mm
Data collection top
Bruker SMART APEXII CCD
diffractometer
2595 independent reflections
Radiation source: microfocus sealed X-ray tube, Incoatec Iµs2160 reflections with I > 2σ(I)
Mirror optics monochromatorRint = 0.030
Detector resolution: 7.9 pixels mm-1θmax = 71.0°, θmin = 4.1°
ω and φ scansh = 88
Absorption correction: for a sphere
(SADABS; Krause et al., 2015)
k = 2626
Tmin = 0.807, Tmax = 0.993l = 1010
21279 measured reflections
Refinement top
Refinement on F2Primary atom site location: dual
Least-squares matrix: fullHydrogen site location: mixed
R[F2 > 2σ(F2)] = 0.038H atoms treated by a mixture of independent and constrained refinement
wR(F2) = 0.113 w = 1/[σ2(Fo2) + (0.0716P)2 + 0.0724P]
where P = (Fo2 + 2Fc2)/3
S = 1.08(Δ/σ)max < 0.001
2595 reflectionsΔρmax = 0.28 e Å3
170 parametersΔρmin = 0.27 e Å3
0 restraints
Special details top

Geometry. All esds (except the esd in the dihedral angle between two l.s. planes) are estimated using the full covariance matrix. The cell esds are taken into account individually in the estimation of esds in distances, angles and torsion angles; correlations between esds in cell parameters are only used when they are defined by crystal symmetry. An approximate (isotropic) treatment of cell esds is used for estimating esds involving l.s. planes.

Refinement. H atoms were included in calculated positions (C—H = 0.95–0.98 Å) and treated as riding atoms with Uiso(H) = 1.2Ueq(C) or 1.5Ueq(methyl C). The NH proton (H1) was located in the difference-Fourier map and refined freely.

Fractional atomic coordinates and isotropic or equivalent isotropic displacement parameters (Å2) top
xyzUiso*/Ueq
N10.67938 (14)0.76538 (4)1.09532 (11)0.0191 (2)
H10.660 (2)0.7773 (7)1.1875 (16)0.030 (4)*
N20.62606 (14)0.68830 (4)0.91279 (11)0.0180 (2)
C10.61447 (16)0.70782 (5)1.04845 (12)0.0174 (3)
C20.52870 (19)0.67095 (6)1.16869 (13)0.0233 (3)
H2A0.4178820.6488971.1236230.035*
H2B0.4931680.6995381.2471750.035*
H2C0.6192980.6404401.2134160.035*
C30.79195 (17)0.80654 (5)1.01846 (12)0.0185 (3)
C40.77137 (17)0.87086 (5)1.04025 (13)0.0209 (3)
H40.6776140.8857911.0993410.025*
C50.88698 (18)0.91300 (6)0.97613 (14)0.0252 (3)
H50.8737020.9566220.9931770.030*
C61.02225 (19)0.89181 (6)0.88702 (14)0.0295 (3)
H61.1018090.9206490.8432170.035*
C71.03948 (19)0.82817 (7)0.86297 (15)0.0298 (3)
H71.1303520.8135410.8007130.036*
C80.92670 (17)0.78530 (6)0.92795 (14)0.0237 (3)
H80.9410960.7417240.9109470.028*
C90.56482 (17)0.62633 (5)0.87387 (12)0.0184 (3)
C100.38863 (17)0.61776 (6)0.79602 (13)0.0218 (3)
C110.33856 (19)0.55810 (6)0.74243 (14)0.0274 (3)
H110.2192250.5517200.6897570.033*
C120.4601 (2)0.50815 (6)0.76486 (15)0.0299 (3)
H120.4249660.4679150.7264790.036*
C130.6326 (2)0.51699 (6)0.84329 (14)0.0267 (3)
H130.7147190.4823580.8599590.032*
C140.68861 (17)0.57583 (6)0.89848 (13)0.0220 (3)
C150.25781 (19)0.67238 (6)0.76836 (16)0.0292 (3)
H15A0.1348370.6571160.7281480.044*
H15B0.3064600.7009870.6954560.044*
H15C0.2469680.6945880.8634570.044*
C160.87995 (19)0.58474 (6)0.97859 (16)0.0314 (3)
H16A0.9631490.5518980.9473250.047*
H16B0.8730190.5822711.0878250.047*
H16C0.9283760.6258550.9528010.047*
Atomic displacement parameters (Å2) top
U11U22U33U12U13U23
N10.0265 (5)0.0145 (5)0.0167 (5)0.0016 (4)0.0034 (4)0.0011 (4)
N20.0220 (5)0.0134 (5)0.0184 (5)0.0002 (4)0.0011 (4)0.0001 (4)
C10.0194 (6)0.0135 (6)0.0189 (6)0.0017 (4)0.0004 (4)0.0014 (4)
C20.0329 (7)0.0174 (6)0.0201 (6)0.0040 (5)0.0052 (5)0.0003 (4)
C30.0209 (6)0.0173 (6)0.0166 (6)0.0025 (4)0.0019 (5)0.0011 (4)
C40.0260 (6)0.0174 (6)0.0187 (6)0.0006 (5)0.0007 (5)0.0001 (4)
C50.0333 (7)0.0177 (6)0.0236 (6)0.0055 (5)0.0027 (5)0.0023 (4)
C60.0324 (7)0.0292 (7)0.0269 (7)0.0119 (6)0.0027 (6)0.0040 (5)
C70.0263 (7)0.0335 (8)0.0307 (7)0.0045 (6)0.0081 (6)0.0017 (5)
C80.0237 (6)0.0200 (6)0.0275 (6)0.0004 (5)0.0027 (5)0.0014 (5)
C90.0261 (6)0.0148 (6)0.0148 (6)0.0012 (5)0.0044 (5)0.0005 (4)
C100.0262 (6)0.0171 (6)0.0223 (6)0.0005 (5)0.0026 (5)0.0002 (4)
C110.0314 (7)0.0216 (7)0.0278 (7)0.0049 (5)0.0041 (5)0.0020 (5)
C120.0444 (8)0.0156 (6)0.0287 (7)0.0032 (6)0.0006 (6)0.0034 (5)
C130.0396 (8)0.0150 (6)0.0251 (6)0.0051 (5)0.0007 (6)0.0007 (5)
C140.0292 (7)0.0184 (6)0.0184 (6)0.0016 (5)0.0022 (5)0.0019 (4)
C150.0257 (7)0.0249 (7)0.0361 (8)0.0019 (5)0.0023 (6)0.0032 (5)
C160.0322 (7)0.0240 (7)0.0368 (8)0.0059 (5)0.0036 (6)0.0018 (5)
Geometric parameters (Å, º) top
N1—H10.882 (15)C8—H80.9500
N1—C11.3663 (15)C9—C101.4004 (17)
N1—C31.4157 (15)C9—C141.4036 (16)
N2—C11.2879 (14)C10—C111.3957 (17)
N2—C91.4272 (14)C10—C151.5055 (17)
C1—C21.5078 (15)C11—H110.9500
C2—H2A0.9800C11—C121.3826 (19)
C2—H2B0.9800C12—H120.9500
C2—H2C0.9800C12—C131.3810 (19)
C3—C41.3967 (16)C13—H130.9500
C3—C81.3952 (17)C13—C141.3946 (17)
C4—H40.9500C14—C161.5040 (18)
C4—C51.3857 (17)C15—H15A0.9800
C5—H50.9500C15—H15B0.9800
C5—C61.3897 (19)C15—H15C0.9800
C6—H60.9500C16—H16A0.9800
C6—C71.3830 (19)C16—H16B0.9800
C7—H70.9500C16—H16C0.9800
C7—C81.3865 (18)
C1—N1—H1117.7 (10)C10—C9—N2119.12 (10)
C1—N1—C3127.32 (10)C10—C9—C14120.70 (11)
C3—N1—H1114.6 (10)C14—C9—N2119.79 (11)
C1—N2—C9118.81 (9)C9—C10—C15120.32 (11)
N1—C1—C2113.86 (10)C11—C10—C9118.79 (11)
N2—C1—N1121.80 (10)C11—C10—C15120.88 (12)
N2—C1—C2124.34 (10)C10—C11—H11119.5
C1—C2—H2A109.5C12—C11—C10120.98 (12)
C1—C2—H2B109.5C12—C11—H11119.5
C1—C2—H2C109.5C11—C12—H12120.1
H2A—C2—H2B109.5C13—C12—C11119.72 (12)
H2A—C2—H2C109.5C13—C12—H12120.1
H2B—C2—H2C109.5C12—C13—H13119.4
C4—C3—N1118.03 (11)C12—C13—C14121.21 (12)
C8—C3—N1122.65 (11)C14—C13—H13119.4
C8—C3—C4119.25 (11)C9—C14—C16121.20 (11)
C3—C4—H4119.8C13—C14—C9118.58 (12)
C5—C4—C3120.35 (12)C13—C14—C16120.20 (11)
C5—C4—H4119.8C10—C15—H15A109.5
C4—C5—H5119.8C10—C15—H15B109.5
C4—C5—C6120.37 (12)C10—C15—H15C109.5
C6—C5—H5119.8H15A—C15—H15B109.5
C5—C6—H6120.4H15A—C15—H15C109.5
C7—C6—C5119.10 (12)H15B—C15—H15C109.5
C7—C6—H6120.4C14—C16—H16A109.5
C6—C7—H7119.4C14—C16—H16B109.5
C6—C7—C8121.28 (12)C14—C16—H16C109.5
C8—C7—H7119.4H16A—C16—H16B109.5
C3—C8—H8120.2H16A—C16—H16C109.5
C7—C8—C3119.62 (12)H16B—C16—H16C109.5
C7—C8—H8120.2
N1—C3—C4—C5175.50 (11)C5—C6—C7—C81.1 (2)
N1—C3—C8—C7176.26 (11)C6—C7—C8—C30.5 (2)
N2—C9—C10—C11172.39 (10)C8—C3—C4—C51.79 (17)
N2—C9—C10—C156.41 (17)C9—N2—C1—N1176.57 (10)
N2—C9—C14—C13172.50 (10)C9—N2—C1—C24.01 (17)
N2—C9—C14—C165.76 (17)C9—C10—C11—C120.21 (19)
C1—N1—C3—C4149.38 (11)C10—C9—C14—C130.23 (18)
C1—N1—C3—C833.43 (18)C10—C9—C14—C16178.49 (11)
C1—N2—C9—C10100.22 (13)C10—C11—C12—C131.0 (2)
C1—N2—C9—C1486.95 (14)C11—C12—C13—C141.1 (2)
C3—N1—C1—N211.33 (18)C12—C13—C14—C90.53 (19)
C3—N1—C1—C2169.20 (11)C12—C13—C14—C16177.75 (12)
C3—C4—C5—C61.26 (18)C14—C9—C10—C110.38 (18)
C4—C3—C8—C70.89 (18)C14—C9—C10—C15179.18 (11)
C4—C5—C6—C70.17 (19)C15—C10—C11—C12178.58 (12)
Hydrogen-bond geometry (Å, º) top
Cg1 and Cg2 are the centroids of the C3–C8 phenyl and C9–C14 2,6-dimethylphenyl rings, respectively.
D—H···AD—HH···AD···AD—H···A
N1—H1···N2i0.882 (15)2.172 (15)3.0530 (14)176.3 (14)
C2—H2C···Cg1i0.982.833.5601 (14)132
C4—H4···Cg2i0.952.593.5092 (13)162
C15—H15A···Cg1ii0.982.833.6346 (15)140
Symmetry codes: (i) x, y+3/2, z+1/2; (ii) x1, y+3/2, z1/2.
 

Acknowledgements

We thank the personnel from the XRD facilities of Université de Montréal. Professor Frank Schaper and Dr Daniel Chartrand are acknowledged for the crystallographic course and training.

Funding information

Funding for this research was provided by: Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC); Fonds de recherche du Québec – Nature et technologies (FRQ-NT); Quebec Centre for Advanced Materials (QCAM); Centre in Green Chemistry and Catalysis (CGCC); Université de Montréal (UdeM); Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières (UQTR) ; l'Institut de recherche sur l'hydrogène (IRH).

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