2,5-Dimethyl-3-(4-methylphenylsulfinyl)-1-benzofuran

In the title compound, C17H16O2S, the 4-methylphenyl ring makes a dihedral angle of 88.28 (5)° with the mean plane [mean deviation = 0.009 (1) Å] of the benzofuran fragment. In the crystal, molecules are linked by weak C—H⋯O and C—H⋯π interactions.

In the title compound, C 17 H 16 O 2 S, the 4-methylphenyl ring makes a dihedral angle of 88.28 (5) with the mean plane [mean deviation = 0.009 (1) Å ] of the benzofuran fragment. In the crystal, molecules are linked by weak C-HÁ Á ÁO and C-HÁ Á Á interactions.

Related literature
For background information and the crystal structures of related compounds, see: Choi et al. (2010aChoi et al. ( ,b, 2012 Table 1 Hydrogen-bond geometry (Å , ).
Supplementary data and figures for this paper are available from the IUCr electronic archives (Reference: FY2054).
In the title molecule ( Fig. 1), the benzofuran unit is essentially planar, with a mean deviation of 0.009 (1) Å from the least-squares plane defined by the nine constituent atoms. The dihedral angle between the 4-methylphenyl ring and the mean plane of the benzofurn fragment is 88.28 (5)°. In the crystal structure, molecules are connected by weak intermolecular C-H···O hydrogen bonds ( Fig. 2  Experimental 3-Chloroperoxybenzoic acid (77%, 291 mg, 1.3 mmol) was added in small portions to a stirred solution of 2,5-dimethyl-3-(4-methylphenylsulfanyl)-1-benzofuran (322 mg, 1.2 mmol) in dichloromethane (30 mL) at 273 K. After being stirred at room temperature for 4h, the mixture was washed with saturated sodium bicarbonate solution and the organic layer was separated, dried over magnesium sulfate, filtered and concentrated at reduced pressure. The residue was purified by column chromatography (hexane:ethyl acetate, 2:1 v/v) to afford the title compound as a colorless solid [yield 73%, m.p. 412-413 K; R f = 0.44 (hexane:ethyl acetate, 2:1 v/v)]. Single crystals suitable for X-ray diffraction were prepared by slow evaporation of a solution of the title compound in benzene at room temperature.

Refinement
All H atoms were positioned geometrically and refined using a riding model, with C-H = 0.95 Å for aryl and 0.98 Å for methyl H atoms. U iso (H) = 1.2U eq (C) for aryl and 1.5U eq (C) for methyl H atoms. The positions of methyl hydrogens were optimized rotationally.

Computing details
Data collection: APEX2 (Bruker, 2009); cell refinement: SAINT (Bruker, 2009); data reduction: SAINT (Bruker, 2009); program(s) used to solve structure: SHELXS97 (Sheldrick, 2008); program(s) used to refine structure: SHELXL97 (Sheldrick, 2008); molecular graphics: ORTEP-3 (Farrugia, 1997) and DIAMOND (Brandenburg, 1998); software used to prepare material for publication: SHELXL97 (Sheldrick, 2008).     where P = (F o 2 + 2F c 2 )/3 (Δ/σ) max = 0.001 Δρ max = 0.20 e Å −3 Δρ min = −0.24 e Å −3 Absolute structure: Flack (1983), 1729 Friedel pairs Flack parameter: −0.01 (7) Special details Geometry. All esds (except the esd in the dihedral angle between two l.s. planes) are estimated using the full covariance matrix. The cell esds are taken into account individually in the estimation of esds in distances, angles and torsion angles; correlations between esds in cell parameters are only used when they are defined by crystal symmetry. An approximate (isotropic) treatment of cell esds is used for estimating esds involving l.s. planes. Refinement. Refinement of F 2 against ALL reflections. The weighted R-factor wR and goodness of fit S are based on F 2 , conventional R-factors R are based on F, with F set to zero for negative F 2 . The threshold expression of F 2 > 2sigma(F 2 ) is used only for calculating R-factors(gt) etc. and is not relevant to the choice of reflections for refinement. R-factors based on F 2 are statistically about twice as large as those based on F, and R-factors based on ALL data will be even larger.