Crystal structures of three zinc(II) halide coordination complexes with quinoline N-oxide

The reaction of one equivalent of zinc(II) halide with two equivalents of quinoline N-oxide (QNO) in methanol yields compounds as ZnX 2(QNO)2, where X = Cl (I), Br (II) and I (III), namely, dichloridobis(quinoline N-oxide-κO)zinc(II), [ZnCl2(C9H7NO)2], dibromidobis(quinoline N-oxide-κO)zinc(II), [ZnBr2(C9H7NO)2], and diiodidobis(quinoline N-oxide-κO)zinc(II) [ZnI2(C9H7NO)2]. In all three complexes, Zn cations are coordinated by two QNO ligands bound through the oxygen atoms and two halide atoms, with X-Zn-X bond angles ca 20° wider than the O-Zn-O, giving rise to a distorted tetrahedral geometry. Crystals of (II) and (III) are isostructural and both show pairwise π-stacking of QNO ligands and weak C-H⋯X hydrogen bonds, while (I) packs differently, with a shorter C-H⋯Cl bond and without π-stacking.