Hydrogen-bonding patterns in pyrimethaminium pyridine-3-sulfonate

In the asymmetric unit of the title salt [systematic name: 2,4-diamino-5-(4-chloro­phen­yl)-6-ethyl­pyrimidin-1-ium pyri­dine-3-sulfonate], C(12)H(14)N(4)Cl(+)·C(5)H(4)NSO(3) (−), there are two independent pyrimethaminium cations and two 3-pyridine sulfonate anions. Each sulfonate group inter­acts with the corresponding protonated pyrimidine ring through two N—H⋯O hydrogen bonds, forming a cyclic hydrogen-bonded bimolecular R (2) (2)(8) motif. Even though the primary mode of association is the same, the next higher level of supra­molecular architectures are different due to different hydrogen-bonded networks. In one of the independent molecules in the asymmetric unit, the pyrimethamine cation is paired centrosymmetrically through N—H⋯N hydrogen bonds, generating an R (2) (2)(8) ring motif. In the other molecule, the pyrimethamine cation does not form any base pairs; instead it forms hydrogen bonds with the 3-pyridine sulfonate anion. The structure is further stabilized by C—H⋯O, C—H⋯N and π–π stacking [centroid–centroid distance = 3.9465 (13) Å] inter­actions.