An imidazol-2-ylidene borane complex exhibiting inter-molecular [C–Hδ+⋯Hδ−–B] dihydrogen bonds

Abstract

The structure of 1,3-bis(2,4,6-trimethylphenyl)imidazol-2-ylidene·BH₃, (1·BH₃) has been determined by X-ray crystallography; the high melting solid exhibits head-to-tail alignment of the molecular dipoles in the solid state, with the closest intermolecular contact being a simple well-defined example of an unconventional [C–H^δ+⋯H^δ−–B] dihydrogen bond.