Ureidobenzotriazine Multiple H-Bonding Arrays: The Importance of Geometrical Details on the Stability of H-Bonds

A 3-ureidobenzo-1,2,4-triazine 1-N-oxide (1) was synthesized successfully. The derivative displays an acceptor-donor-acceptor-acceptor (ADAA) hydrogen-bonding motif in CDCl3 and DMSO-d6 solution as well as in the solid state. Although moderately strong association of 1 was observed with DAD motifs, nonspecific binding is observed with ureidopyridines featuring a complementary DADD array. Density functional calculations of conformations 1a and 1b together with two complexes revealed the clearly nonplanar geometry of the multiply hydrogen-bonded complex, in which some bonds are significantly longer (3.2 Å) than is optimal for H-bonds. As a result, only very small free energies of association were calculated, in line with the experimentally observed absence of specific assembly of the components.