1-(3-Pyridyl)pyrrolidine-2,5-dione

In the title molecule, C9H8N2O2, the dihedral angle between the pyridine and the pyrrolidine rings is 64.58 (12)°. In the crystal structure, weak C—H⋯π-electron ring interactions stabilize the packing.

In the title molecule, C 9 H 8 N 2 O 2 , the dihedral angle between the pyridine and the pyrrolidine rings is 64.58 (12) . In the crystal structure, weak C-HÁ Á Á-electron ring interactions stabilize the packing.

Comment
The derivatives of pyrrolidine-2,5-dione possess valuable pharmaceutical properties (Obniska et al., 2009), among others are inhibitors of the cholesterol biosynthesis (Procopiou et al., 1993). These interesting properties lead us to develop pyrrolidine derivatives containing the pyrrolidine-2,5-dione and the pyridine groups. In this paper, the synthesis of one of these compounds and its crystal structure are reported.
In the title molecule ( Fig. 1), the dihedral angle between the pyridine and the pyrrolidine rings equals to 64.58 (12)°, There are C-H···π-electron ring interactions between the hydrogen atom H8B stemming from the pyrrolidine ring and the pyridine ring that serves as an acceptor (Tab. 1).

Experimental
Solution of pyrrolidine-2,5-dione (0.04 mol) in ethanol (96%, 15 ml) was added to a stirred ethanol solution (96%, 25 ml) of 3-chloropyridine (0.04 mol) at room temperature, then KOH (0.01 mol) and tetrabutylammonium bromide (0.005 mol) was added to the resulting solution. This mixture was heated at 323 K for 4 h and then cooled to room temperature. After 30 ml of water had been added to this mixture, a white precipitate appeared. The mixture was filtered, the residue was dried under a reduced pressure in a vacuum drying box for 3 hours, then the residue was dissolved in 100 ml of ethanol (96%), and set aside for five days to obtain colourless block crystals suitable for X-ray analysis. Yield: 43%.

Refinement
All the H atoms were discernible in the difference electron density maps. However, the hydrogens were constrained by the riding model approximation. C-H methyl =0.96 Å; C-H aryl =0.93 Å; U iso H methyl =1.5U eq (C methyl ); U iso H aryl =1.2U eq (C aryl ). In the absence of significant anomalous scattering effects 626 Friedel pairs have been merged. Fig. 1. The title molecule with the atom-labelling scheme. The displacement ellipsoids are drawn at the 50% probability level.