Coulombic interactions, hydrogen bonding and supramolecular chirality in pyridinium trifluoromethanesulfonate

The title compound, C5H6N+.CF3SO3-, was serendipitously crystallized in the chiral space group P4(3)2(1)2. The component entities associate into hydrogen-bonded helical chains, which propagate along the a and b axes of the crystal, with an alternating disposition of the cations and anions along the chain. N-H...O charge-assisted hydrogen bonds, from each pyridinium cation to two adjacent trifluoromethanesulfonate anions and from every anion to two different cations, direct the formation of the supramolecular chiral arrays. The crystal packing exhibits nonconventional C-H...O and C-H...F hydrogen bonds between the components. The observed structure demonstrates induction of supramolecular chirality by a combination of Coulombic attractions and intermolecular hydrogen bonds.