The reaction between bis-ninhydrin resorcinol and benzyl-tri-methyl-ammonium fluoride in ethanol has produced the title compound, 2C10H16N(+)·2C24H13O8 (-)·1.5H2O, which contains a unique centrosymmetric supra-molecular dimeric entity, where two deprotonated ligands are held together via two strong and short [O⋯O = 2.4395 (13) Å] [O-H-O](-) bonds of the type negative charge-assisted hydrogen bonds (-CAHB). The central aromatic rings of the ligands create parallel-displaced π-π stacking at an inter-planar distance of 3.381 (1) Å, which helps stabilize the dimer. In the crystal, two symmetry-related solvent water mol-ecules with a site occupancy of 0.75 are attached to the carbonyl groups of the dimer by weaker O-H⋯O hydrogen bonds, forming chains along [101].
Keywords: crystal structure; negative charge-assisted hydrogen bond [(−)CAHB]; ninhydrin; supramolecular dimer; vasarene.