Crystal structure of tris(2-methyl-1<i>H</i>-imidazol-3-ium) benzene-1,3,5-tricarboxylate

The structure of the title salt, 3C₄H₇N₂ ⁺·C₉H₃O₆ ^3- (<b>1</b>), is reported. The compound is formed with three 2-methyl-imidazolium cations and a fully deprotonated trimesic acid. The structure is disordered over two orientations, which were refined using a split model (90.99: 9.01occupancy ratio). Analysis of bond distances and angles reveals the differences and similarities between compound <b>1</b> and the previously published 2-methyl-1<i>H</i>-imidazol-3-ium 3,5-di-carb-oxy-benzoate structure [Baletska <i>et al.</i>, (2023 ▸). <i>Acta Cryst.</i> E<b>79</b>, 1088-1092] and tris-(2-methyl-1<i>H</i>- imidazol-3-ium) 5-carb-oxy-benzene-1,3-di-carboxyl-ate 3,5-di-carb-oxy-benzoate [Asprilla-Herrera <i>et al.</i> (2025 ▸). <i>Acta Cryst.</i> E<b>81</b>, 303-309], as well as the neutral counterparts of the ions [Tothadi <i>et al.</i> (2020 ▸). <i>ACS Appl. Mater. Inter-faces</i>, <b>12</b>, 15588-15594; Hachuła <i>et al.</i> (2010 ▸). <i>J. Chem. Crystallogr.</i> <b>40</b>, 201-206]. The crystal packing analysis reveals the formation of hydrogen-bonded two-dimensional networks perpendicular to the [111] vector, where neighbouring planes inter-act <i>via</i> extensive π-π stacking.