X-ray diffraction and theoretical studies for the quantitative assessment of intermolecular arene-perfluoroarene stacking interactions

The arene-perfluoroarene stacking interaction was studied by experimental and theoretical methods. A series of compounds with different possibilities for formation of this recognition motif in the solid state were synthesized, and their crystal structures determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The crystal packing of these compounds, as well as the packing of related compounds retrieved from crystallographic databases, were analyzed with quantitative crystal potentials: total lattice energies and the cohesive energies of closest molecular pairs in the crystals were calculated. The arene-perfluoroarene recognition motif emerges as a dominant interaction in the non-hydrogen-bonding compounds studied here, to the point that asymmetric dimers formed over the stacking motif carry over to asymmetric units made of two molecules in the crystal both for pure Compounds and for molecular complexes; however, inter-ring distances and angles range from 3.70 to 4.85 angstrom and from 5 to 21 degrees.