Isostructural rubidium and caesium 4-(3,5-di­nitro­pyrazol-4-yl)-3,5-di­nitro­pyrazolates: crystal engineering with polynitro energetic species

In the structures of the title salts, poly[[μ(4)-4-(3,5-di­nitro­pyrazol-4-yl)-3,5-di­nitro­pyrazol-1-ido]rubidium], [Rb(C(6)HN(8)O(8))]( n ), (1), and its isostructural caesium analogue [Cs(C(6)HN(8)O(8))( n ), (2), two independent cations M1 and M2 (M = Rb, Cs) are situated on a crystallographic twofold axis and on a center of inversion, respectively. Mutual inter­molecular hydrogen bonding between the conjugate 3,5-dinito­pyrazole NH-donor and 3,5-di­nitro­pyrazole N-acceptor sites of the anions [N⋯N = 2.785 (2) Å for (1) and 2.832 (3) Å for (2)] governs the self-assembly of the translation-related anions in a predictable fashion. Such one-component modular construction of the organic subtopology supports the utility of the crystal-engineering approach towards designing the structures of polynitro energetic materials. The anionic chains are further linked by multiple ion–dipole inter­actions involving the 12-coordinate cations bonded to two pyrazole N-atoms [Rb—N = 3.1285 (16), 3.2261 (16) Å; Cs—N = 3.369 (2), 3.401 (2) Å] and all of the eight nitro O-atoms [Rb—O = 2.8543 (15)–3.6985 (16) Å; Cs—O = 3.071 (2)–3.811 (2) Å]. The resulting ionic networks follow the CsCl topological archetype, with either metal or organic ions residing in an environment of eight counter-ions. Weak lone pair–π-hole inter­actions [pyrazole-N atoms to NO(2) groups; N⋯N = 2.990 (3)–3.198 (3) Å] are also relevant to the packing. The Hirshfeld surfaces and percentage two-dimensional fingerprint plots for (1) and (2) are described.