Structural systematics and conformational analyses of a 3 × 3 isomer grid of fluoro-N-(pyridyl)benzamides: physicochemical correlations, polymorphism and isomorphous relationships.

An isomer grid of nine fluoro-N-(pyridyl)benzamides (Fxx) (x = para-/meta-/ortho-) has been examined to correlate structural relationships between the experimental crystal structure and ab initio calculations, based on the effect of fluorine (Fx) and pyridine N-atom (x) substitution patterns on molecular conformation. Eight isomers form N-H⋅⋅⋅N hydrogen bonds, and only one (Fom) aggregates via intermolecular N-H⋅⋅⋅O=C interactions exclusively. The Fpm and Fom isomers both crystallize as two polymorphs with Fpm_O (N-H⋅⋅⋅O=C chains, P-syn) and Fpm_N (N-H⋅⋅⋅N chains, P-anti) both in P2(1)/n (Z' = 1) differing by their meta-N atom locations (P-syn, P-anti; N(pyridine) referenced to N-H), whereas the disordered Fom_O is mostly P-syn (Z' = 6) compared with Fom_F (P-anti) (Z' = 1). In the Fxo triad twisted dimers form cyclic R(2)(2)(8) rings via N-H⋅⋅⋅N interactions. Computational modelling and conformational preferences of the isomer grid demonstrate that the solid-state conformations generally conform with the most stable calculated conformations except for the Fxm triad, while calculations of the Fox triad predict the intramolecular N-H⋅⋅⋅F interaction established by spectroscopic and crystallographic data. Comparisons of Fxx with related isomer grids reveal a high degree of similarity in solid-state aggregation and physicochemical properties, while correlation of the melting point behaviour indicates the significance of the substituent position on melting point behaviour rather than the nature of the substituent.