7-Benzyl-3-methyl-6-phenyl­imidazo[2,1-b][1,3]thia­zol-7-ium chloride 0.75-hydrate

Theasymmetric unit of the title salt, C₁₉H₁₇N₂S⁺·Cl⁻·0.75H₂O, contains two symmetrically independent formula units of the carbenium salt along with three water mol­ecules. The water mol­ecules are only 50% occupated, and one of them is positioned in a hydro­phobic pocket not forming any hydrogen bonds. The conformation of the independent cations is very similar, with dihedral angles of 61.0 (2) and 61.5 (3)° between the benzene rings. They form quasi-centrosymmetric couples via π–π stacking inter­actions between the benzene and imidazo[2,1-b]thia­zole rings [centroid–centroid distances = 3.718 (3) and 3.663 (3) Å]. In the crystal, O—H...Cl hydrogen bonds lead to the formation of a helical anion–water chain along the c-axis direction. The cations connect to the anion–water chain through C—H...Cl inter­actions, generating a three-dimensional supra­molecular network. O—H...S hydrogen bonds and C—H...O inter­actions also occur.