View article

The structure determination of 3-phenylpropionic acid (1), 3-(3-methylphenyl) propionic acid (5), and 3-(3- methoxyphenyl) propionic acid (6), all three compounds crystallizing in the monoclinic space group P2₁/a (or P2₁/n) with Z′ = 2, has been accomplished from laboratory X-ray powder diffraction data following the direct space approach. The nature of intermolecular interactions in 1, 5, and 6 has been analyzed using the Hirshfeld surfaces and 2D fingerprint plots. While the two molecules (A and B) in the crystallographic asymmetric unit of 6 display almost identical conformation, those in 1 and 5 are significantly different due a rotation about the C–C bond linking the planar aromatic ring and propionic acid fragments. The presence of the COOH functional group in the compounds promotes the formation of cyclic R²₂(8) synthons via intermolecular O–H···O hydrogen bonds. Further linking of molecules through …