Structures of six industrial benzimidazolone pigments from laboratory powder diffraction data

The crystal structures of six industrially produced benzimidazolone pigments [Pigment Orange 36 (beta phase), Pigment Orange 62, Pigment Yellow 151, Pigment Yellow 154 (alpha phase), Pigment Yellow 181 (beta phase) and Pigment Yellow 194] were determined from laboratory X-ray powder diffraction data by means of real-space methods using the programs DASH and MRIA, respectively. Subsequent Rietveld refinements were carried out with TOPAS. The crystal phases correspond to those produced industrially. Additionally, the crystal structures of the non-commercial compound 'BIRZIL' (a chloro derivative of Pigment Yellow 194) and of a dimethylsulfoxide solvate of Pigment Yellow 154 were determined by single-crystal structure analyses. All eight crystal structures are different; the six industrial pigments even exhibit five different hydrogen-bond topologies. Apparently, the good application properties of the benzimidazolone pigments are not the result of one specific hydrogen-bonding pattern, but are the result of a combination of efficient molecular packing and strong intermolecular hydrogen bonds.