1-Diphenylmethyl-4-ethylpiperazine-1,4-diium dichloride

In the title compound, C19H26N2 2+·2Cl−, the piperazinediium ring exhibits a chair conformation. The dihedral angle between the two benzene ring planes is 76.45 (13)°. Both amine-group H atoms participate in hydrogen bonding with the two Cl atoms.

In the title compound, C 19 H 26 N 2 2+ Á2Cl À , the piperazinediium ring exhibits a chair conformation. The dihedral angle between the two benzene ring planes is 76.45 (13) . Both amine-group H atoms participate in hydrogen bonding with the two Cl atoms.

Related literature
The title compound was obtained in our search for a strong anti-Helicobacter pylori secondary metabolite. For general background to H. pylori, see: Gebert et al. (2003); Li et al. (2007); Moran & Upton (1986). For bond lengths and angles in related structures, see: Raves et al. (1992); Ilangovan et al.  Table 1 Hydrogen-bond geometry (Å , ).

Comment
The human pathogenic bacterium Helicobacter pylori has been ascertained to be an antiological agent for chronic active gastritis and a significant determinant in peptic and duodenal ulcer diseases (Gebert et al., 2003;Li et al., 2007). Sustained infection with this bacterium could lead to development of gastric cancer (Moran & Upton, 1986). Endophytic metabolites are recognized as a versatile arsenal of antimicrobial agents, since some endophytes have been shown to possess superior biosynthetic capabilities owing to their presumable gene recombination with the host, while residing and reproducing inside the healthy plant tissues. Our particular attention was extended to anti-Helicobacter pylori constituents. A detailed bioassayguided fractionation of the culture extract of Fusarium sp., an endophytic fungus in Quercus variabilis Bl., was performed to afford a strong anti-H. pylori secondary metabolite. In this paper we report the structural information for the title compound, .2Cl -, for which the asymmetric unit contains one 1-(diphenylmethyl)-4-ethylpiperazine-1,4-diium dication and two chloride anions. The bond lengths and angles of the title compound are in normal ranges when comparing with similar structures reported previously (Raves et al., 1992;Ilangovan et al., 2007). In the title compound, the piperazine fragment is in a chair conformation. The dihedral angle between the two benzene ring planes is 76.45 (13) °. Both amine-group H atoms participate in hydrogen bonding with the two Cl atoms.

Refinement
All H atoms were positioned geometrically (C-H = 0.93 Å for the aromatic H atoms and C-H = 0.96 Å for the aliphatic H atoms) and were refined as riding, with U iso (H) = 1.2U eq (C) and U iso (H) = 1.2U eq (N).
supplementary materials sup-2 Figures   Fig. 1. The structure of the title compound showing 30% probability displacement ellipsoids and the atom-numbering scheme.  Fig. 1