Cocrystallization with Acetylene. The 1 : 1 Complex with Benzene: Crystal Growth, X‐Ray Diffraction and Molecular Simulations

The crystal structure of an unusual 1 : 1 molecular complex between benzene and acetylene, two very small and apolar molecules, has been determined by X‐ray‐analysis of crystals grown by first mixing the two liquids under conditions of low temperature and high pressure in a capillary, followed by repeated zone melting to form crystals directly on the goniometer head of a diffractometer. Each acetylene molecule is clamped between two parallel benzene rings, with its molecular axis apparently perpendicular to the benzene planes. Closer inspection of thermal‐motion data from the diffraction experiment suggests that the acetylene molecule undergoes a wobbling, or precession, motion between the two rings so that it is perpendicular to them only in a time‐averaged sense. The results of quantum‐chemical calculations on isolated molecular dimers and trimers support this conclusion. In addition, the calculation of separate coulombic, dispersion, polarization and repulsion contributions to intermolecular bonding reveals that the CH⋅⋅⋅π‐bond interaction between acetylene and benzene in a T‐shaped dimer consists of a mixture of coulombic and polarization interactions. In the benzeneacetylene cocrystal, its magnitude is quantitatively comparable with that of other dispersive interactions. 5.4 ns Molecular‐dynamics simulations of the liquid mixture reveal that the two components are persistently miscible, a possible key to the formation of the cocrystal. No structure is, however, observed in the solution during the relatively short simulation time.