Negative linear compression and expanding NH N bonds in an imidazoline compound.

The 3-dimensional network of NHN hydrogen bonds and ClCl hydrogen contacts in the crystal structure of 2-(3′-chlorophenyl)imidazoline exhibits an anomalous hydrostatic compression. The lengthening of hydrogen bonds NHN and some CHN contacts as well as their supramolecular architecture lead to anomalous expansion of the crystal along [x] and [y] on increasing pressure to 0.1 GPa. The mechanism of this phenomenon is due to the ‘stiffness’ of the NHN and ClCl interactions and ‘softness’ of other van der Waals contacts. Above 0.1 GPa all crystal directions become compressed. However, up to 1.20 GPa, the crystal remains in the same orthorhombic phase of polar space group Fdd2