Eight new crystal structures of 5-(hydroxymethyl)uracil, 5-carboxyuracil and 5-carboxy-2-thiouracil: insights into the hydrogen-bonded networks and the predominant conformations of the C5-bound residues.

In order to examine the preferred hydrogen-bonding pattern of various uracil derivatives, namely 5-(hydroxymethyl)uracil, 5-carboxyuracil and 5-carboxy-2-thiouracil, and for a conformational study, crystallization experiments yielded eight different structures: 5-(hydroxymethyl)uracil, C5H6N2O3, (I), 5-carboxyuracil-N,N-dimethylformamide (1/1), C5H4N2O4·C3H7NO, (II), 5-carboxyuracil-dimethyl sulfoxide (1/1), C5H4N2O4·C2H6OS, (III), 5-carboxyuracil-N,N-dimethylacetamide (1/1), C5H4N2O4·C4H9NO, (IV), 5-carboxy-2-thiouracil-N,N-dimethylformamide (1/1), C5H4N2O3S·C3H7NO, (V), 5-carboxy-2-thiouracil-dimethyl sulfoxide (1/1), C5H4N2O3S·C2H6OS, (VI), 5-carboxy-2-thiouracil-1,4-dioxane (2/3), 2C5H4N2O3S·3C6H12O3, (VII), and 5-carboxy-2-thiouracil, C10H8N4O6S2, (VIII). While the six solvated structures, i.e. (II)-(VII), contain intramolecular S(6) O-H...O hydrogen-bond motifs between the carboxy and carbonyl groups, the usually favoured R2(2)(8) pattern between two carboxy groups is formed in the solvent-free structure, i.e. (VIII). Further R2(2)(8) hydrogen-bond motifs involving either two N-H...O or two N-H...S hydrogen bonds were observed in three crystal structures, namely (I), (IV) and (VIII). In all eight structures, the residue at the ring 5-position shows a coplanar arrangement with respect to the pyrimidine ring which is in agreement with a search of the Cambridge Structural Database for six-membered cyclic compounds containing a carboxy group. The search confirmed that coplanarity between the carboxy group and the cyclic residue is strongly favoured.