3-(1-Methyl-3-imidazolio)propanesulfonate: A precursor to a Brønsted acid ionic liquid

Abstract

The title compound, C7H12N2O3S, is a zwitterion precursor to a Brnsted acid ionic liquid with potential as an acid catalyst. The C - N - C - C torsion angle of 100.05 (8)° allows the positively charged imidazolium head group and the negatively charged sulfonate group to inter-act with neighboring zwitterions, forming a C - H⋯O hydrogen-bonding network; the shortest among these inter-actions is 2.9512 (9) Å. The C - H⋯O inter-actions can be described by graph-set notation as two R 22(16) and one R 22(5) hydrogen-bonded rings.