1-(5,5-Di­meth­oxy­pent­yl)-3-methyl­imidazolium-2-carboxyl­ate

The title compound, C₁₂H₂₀N₂O₄, represents one example of a zwitterionic imidazolium salt with a carboxyl­ate group at the 2-position of the imidazolium ring. The dihedral angle between the heterocyclic ring and the carboxyl­ate group is 31.3 (1)°. The side chain linking the N atom of the ring and the methine C atom has a gauche–anti–anti conformation [torsion angles = −60.3 (2), −175.7 (2) and 178.7 (2)°, respectively]. In the crystal, mol­ecules are linked by short C—H...O hydrogen bonds involving the C—H groups in the aromatic ring to generate (001) sheets.