The Crystal and Molecular Structure of 2,5-Distyrylpyrazine

Abstract 2,5-Distyrylpyrazine(C20H16N2), which has photo-polymerizability in the crystalline state, crystallizes in the orthorhombic system with cell dimensions of a=20.638, b=9.599, and c=7.655 Å, including four molecules in the unit cell. The space group is Pbca. The structure has been determined by the direct method and refined by the block-diagonal-matrix least-squares method using three-dimensional data. The molecules is not planar; the average plane of the pyrazine ring makes a dihedral angle of 12.09° with that of the benzene ring. The molecules are spaced by the c-translation forming an almost parallel plane-to-plane stack. In this stack, the ethylenic double bonds approach each other at the shortest intermolecular distances of 3.939 Å, since the long axis of the molecule makes an angle of about 30° with the c-axis. Therefore, the polymerization may occur between these double bonds to form a cyclobutane ring.