3‐[(Benzo‐1,3‐dioxol‐5‐yl)amino]‐4‐methoxycyclobut‐3‐ene‐1,2‐dione: polymorphism and twinning of a precursor to an antimycobacterial squaramide.

The title compound, 3‐[(benzo‐1,3‐dioxol‐5‐yl)amino]‐4‐methoxycyclobut‐3‐ene‐1,2‐dione, C12H9NO5 (3), is a precursor to an antimycobacterial squaramide. Block‐shaped crystals of a monoclinic form (3‐I, space group P21/c, Z = 8, Z′ = 2) and needle‐shaped crystals of a triclinic form (3‐II, space group P‐1, Z = 4, Z′ = 2) were found to crystallize concomitantly. In both crystal forms, R22(10) dimers assemble through N—H...O=C hydrogen bonds. These dimers are formed from crystallographically unique molecules in 3‐I, but exhibit crystallographic Ci symmetry in 3‐II. Twinning by pseudomerohedry was encountered in the crystals of 3‐II. The conformations of 3 in the solid forms 3‐I and 3‐II are different from one another but are similar for the unique molecules in each polymorph. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations on the free molecule of 3 indicate that a nearly planar conformation is preferred. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]