Strength from weakness: The role of CH•••N hydrogen bond in the formation of wave-like topology in crystals of aza-heterocycles

Crystal engineering has succeeded in the design and construction of various architectures such as tapes, ribbons, rosettes, layers etc. Though wavy layer packing is known to occur in crystals, no crystal engineering attempts have been ventured to create wavy layer topology in crystals. Aromatic nitrogen heterocyclics (ANHs) are known to preferentially self assemble in lateral fashion through edge-to-edge CH center dot center dot center dot N hydrogen bonds. Exploiting this preferential lateral assembly of ANHs, we have engineered wavy layer architectures in the crystals of various substituted quinolines.