Crystal structure of 2-chloro-1,3-(2,6-diiso-propyl-phen-yl)-4,5-dihydro-1H-imidazol-3-ium tetra-kis-(3,5-tri-fluoro-methyl-phen-yl)borate.

The title compound, C27H38ClN2(+)·C32H12BF24(-), was synthesized by reacting the product formed from a previous reaction between 1,3-bis-(2,6-diiso-propyl-phen-yl)imidazolinium-2-carboxyl-ate (SIPrCO2), and SOCl2, with sodium tetra-kis-[3,5-bis-(tri-fluoro-meth-yl)phen-yl]borate (NaBARF). In the cation, the imidazole ring is in a half-chair conformation and the formerly carbene carbon atom is bonded in a distorted trigonal-planar geometry with N-C-Cl angles of 122.96 (16) and 122.21 (16)° and an N-C-N angle of 114.83 (18)°. In the crystal, weak C-H⋯F hydrogen bonds link the cations and anions, forming a three-dimensional network. In addition, a short Cl⋯F contact of 3.213 Å and several short F⋯F contacts less than the sum of the van der Waals radii [1.47 Å + 1.47 Å = 2.94 Å] are observed. The F atoms of two of the CF3 groups were refined as disordered over four sets of sites.