An Organic Receptor Isolated in an Unusual Intermediate Conformation: Computation, Crystallography, and Hirshfeld Surface Analysis.

1,1″-1,4-Phenylene-bis(methylene)bis-4,4'-bipyridinium cation [CHN] (c), an organic receptor that generally crystallizes in its anti conformation, has recently been shown to be isolated in its syn conformation in an ion-paired compound [CHN][Zn(dmit)]·2DMF (dmit = 1,3-dithiole-2-thione-4,5-dithiolate; DMF = dimethylformamide). In this article, we demonstrated that the same receptor [CHN] (c) can also be stabilized in an unusual intermediate conformation (neither syn nor anti) with PF anion in compound [CHN](PF)·(1,4-dioxane) (1·(1,4-dioxane)). The energetically favored anti conformation has been described in its nitrate salt [CHN](NO)·2HO (2·2HO).