3,3-Bis(2-hy-droxy-eth-yl)-1-(4-nitro-benzo-yl)thio-urea: crystal structure, Hirshfeld surface analysis and computational study

In the title compound, C12H15N3O5S, a tris-ubstituted thio-urea derivative, the central CN2S chromophore is almost planar (r.m.s. deviation = 0.018 Å) and the pendant hy-droxy-ethyl groups lie to either side of this plane. While to a first approximation the thione-S and carbonyl-O atoms lie to the same side of the mol-ecule, the S-C-N-C torsion angle of -47.8 (2)° indicates a considerable twist. As one of the hy-droxy-ethyl groups is orientated towards the thio-amide residue, an intra-molecular N-H⋯O hydrogen bond is formed which leads to an S(7) loop. A further twist in the mol-ecule is indicated by the dihedral angle of 65.87 (7)° between the planes through the CN2S chromophore and the 4-nitro-benzene ring. There is a close match between the experimental and gas-phase, geometry-optimized (DFT) mol-ecular structures. In the crystal, O-H⋯O and O-H⋯S hydrogen bonds give rise to supra-molecular layers propagating in the ab plane. The connections between layers to consolidate the three-dimensional architecture are of the type C-H⋯O, C-H⋯S and nitro-O⋯π. The nature of the supra-molecular association has been further analysed by a study of the calculated Hirshfeld surfaces, non-covalent inter-action plots and computational chemistry, all of which point to the significant influence and energy of stabilization provided by the conventional hydrogen bonds.