Crystal structure, Hirshfeld surface analysis and DFT studies of (E)-4-methyl-2-{[(4-methylphenyl)imino]methyl}phenol

Abstract

In the title compound, C15H15NO, the configuration of the C=N bond of the Schiff base is E, and an intramolecular O—H...N hydrogen bond is observed, forming an intramolecular S(6) ring motif. The phenol ring is inclined by 45.73 (2)° from the plane of the aniline ring. In the crystal, molecules are linked along the b axis by O—H...N and C—H...O hydrogen bonds, forming polymeric chains. The Hirshfeld surface analysis of the crystal structure indicates that the most important contributions for the packing arrangement are from H...H (56.9%) and H...C/C...H (31.2%) interactions. The density functional theory (DFT) optimized structure at the B3LYP/ 6–311 G(d,p) level is compared with the experimentally determined molecular structure, and the HOMO–LUMO energy gap is provided. The crystal studied was refined as an inversion twin.

Keywords

• crystal structure
• schiff base
• intramolecular hydrogen bonding
• 2-hydroxy-5-methylbenzaldehyde
• p-tolylamine