The whole range of hydrogen bonds in one crystal structure: neutron diffraction and charge-density studies of<i>N</i>,<i>N</i>-dimethylbiguanidinium bis(hydrogensquarate)

N,N-Dimethylbiguanidinium bis(hydrogensquarate) features an impressive range of hydrogen bonds within the same crystal structure: neighbouring anions aggregate to a dianionic pair through two strong O-H···O interactions; one of these can be classified among the shortest hydrogen bonds ever studied. Cations and anions in this organic salt further interact via conventional N-H···O and nonclassical C-H···O contacts to an extended structure. As all these interactions occur in the same sample, the title compound is particularly suitable to monitor even subtle trends in hydrogen bonds. Neutron and high-resolution X-ray diffraction experiments have enabled us to determine the electron density precisely and to address its properties with an emphasis on the nature of the X-H···O interactions. Sensitive criteria such as the Laplacian of the electron density and energy densities in the bond-critical points reveal the incipient covalent character of the shortest O-H···O bond. These findings are in agreement with the precise geometry from neutron diffraction: the shortest hydrogen bond is also significantly more symmetric than the longer interactions.

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