2-Hydroxybenzyl alcohol–phenanthroline (1/1)

Abstract

Crystals of the title compound, C12H8N2·C7H8O2, were obtained during cocrystallization experiments of a compound with two hydrogen-bond donors (2-hydroxybenzyl alcohol) with another compound containing two hydrogen-bond acceptors (phenanthroline). Unexpectedly, the two molecules do not form dimers with two O—H...N hydrogen bonds connecting the two molecules. However, one of the hydroxy groups forms a bifurcated hydrogen bond to both phenanthroline N atoms, whereas the other hydroxy group forms an O—H...O hydrogen bond to a symmetry-equivalent 2-hydroxybenzyl alcohol molecule. In addition, the crystal packing is stabilized by π–π interactions between the two phenanthroline ring systems, with a centroid–centroid distance of 3.570  Å.