N 1,N 4-Diphenyl-3,6-bis(phenylimino)cyclohexa-1,4-diene-1,4-diamine

In the title compound, C30H24N4, the central benzoquinonediimine moiety is approximately planar, with a maximum deviation of 0.044 (14) Å. The four terminal phenyl rings are twisted by 44.95 (11), 54.90 (10), 44.98 (10) and 50.68 (11)° with respect to the mean plane the benzoquinonediimine unit. In the crystal, molecules are linked by weak C—H⋯π interactions into supramolecular chains running along the b-axis direction.

In the title compound, C 30 H 24 N 4 , the central benzoquinonediimine moiety is approximately planar, with a maximum deviation of 0.044 (14) Å . The four terminal phenyl rings are twisted by 44.95 (11), 54.90 (10), 44.98 (10) and 50.68 (11) with respect to the mean plane the benzoquinonediimine unit. In the crystal, molecules are linked by weak C-HÁ Á Á interactions into supramolecular chains running along the baxis direction. H atoms treated by a mixture of independent and constrained refinement Á max = 0.32 e Å À3 Á min = À0.24 e Å À3 Table 1 Hydrogen-bond geometry (Å , ).

Related literature
Cg2 and Cg4 are the centroids of the C7-C12 and C19-C24 benzene rings, respectively.
These results indicate that each of two N-C-C-C-N zigzag shaped moieties shows a bond alternation, but no conjugation between them.

Experimental
The V IV complex [V IV (O)(η 2 -ox)(H 2 O) 3 ] was purchased as "VO(ox) . nH 2 O" from Wako Chemicals, and used without further purification. A solution of aniline (27.9 g, 300 mmol) in EtOH (50 cm 3 ) was added to a solution of VO(ox) . nH 2 O (1.13 g, 3.00 mmol) in a mixture of EtOH (50 cm 3 ) and H 2 O (100 cm 3 ). The reaction mixture was set aside for 2 weeks at room temperature in air. The precipitated crystals were filterd off, washed with H 2 O and EtOH, successively, and dried.

Refinement
The H atoms of NH moieies were located from a Fourier difference map and refined isotrpically. Other H atoms were placed at idealized positions with C-H = 0.95 Å, and refined in ridig mode with U eq (H) = 1.2U iso (C).

Figure 1
The molecular structure of I, with displacement ellipsoids drawn at the 50% probability level.