Structural Characterization of 4-(4-Nitrophenyl)thiomorpholine, a Precursor in Medicinal Chemistry

Abstract

4-(4-nitrophenyl)thiomorpholine, the title compound, has been used as a precursor for the corresponding 4-thiomorpholinoaniline, which is a useful building block in medicinal chemistry. The crystal and molecular structures of the title compound, however, have not been described thus far. We synthesized the title compound by means of a nucleophilic aromatic substitution reaction of 4-fluoronitrobenzene and thiomorpholine and structurally characterized it by X-ray crystallography, DFT calculations, and Hirshfeld surface analysis. In the crystal, the molecule exhibits an approximately CS-symmetric structure, with the nitrogen-bound 4-nitrophenyl group in a quasi axial position on the six-membered thiomorpholine ring in a low-energy chair conformation. The solid-state structure of the title compound is markedly different from that of its morpholine analogue. This can be ascribed to the formation of centrosymmetric dimers through intermolecular C–H···O weak hydrogen bonds involving the methylene groups adjacent to the sulfur atom and face-to-face aromatic stacking.

Keywords

• thiomorpholine
• nucleophilic aromatic substitution
• crystal structure
• Hirshfeld surface analysis
• DFT calculation
• hydrogen bonding