Protonation products of pentaaminopentane as novel building blocks for hydrogen-bonded networks

The structures of 3-amino-1.2R.4S.5-tetraammoniopentane tetrachloride monoh ydrate, C5H21N54+.4Cl(-).H2O and 1,2R,3,4S,5-pentaammoniopentane tetrachlor ozincate trichloride monohydrate, (C5H22N5)[ZnCl4]Cl3H2O, have been determi ned from single-crystal X-ray diffraction data. Both compounds show a compl ex network of N-H...O. OH...Cl and N-H...Cl hydrogen bonds. There are a tot al of 14 H atoms of the tetra-cation and 15 H atoms of the pentacation avai lable for hydrogen bonding. However, due to the particular shape of the pri mary linear polyammonium cations, only a certain number of H atoms can be i nvolved in hydrogen-bond formation. It is further shown that hydrogen bondi ng has an influence on the conformation of such alkylammonium cations.