Crystal structure of tris(2-methyl-1H-imidazol-3-ium) benzene-1,3,5-tricarboxylate

The structure of the title salt, $3C_{4}H_{7}N_{2}$$^{+}·C_{9}H_{3}O_{6}$$^{3−}$ (1), is reported. The compound is formed with three 2-methyl­imidazolium cations and a fully deprotonated trimesic acid. The structure is disordered over two orientations, which were refined using a split model (90.99: 9.01occupancy ratio). Analysis of bond distances and angles reveals the differences and similarities between compound 1 and the previously published 2-methyl-1H-imidazol-3-ium 3,5-di­carb­oxy­benzoate structure [Baletska et al., (2023[Baletska, S., Techert, S. & Velazquez-Garcia, J. de J. (2023). Acta Cryst. E79, 1088-1092.]). Acta Cryst. E79, 1088–1092] and tris­(2-methyl-1H- imidazol-3-ium) 5-carb­oxy­benzene-1,3-di­carboxyl­ate 3,5-di­carb­oxy­benzoate [Asprilla-Herrera et al. (2025[Asprilla-Herrera, L. M., Techert, S. & Velazquez-Garcia, J. de J. (2025). Acta Cryst. E81, 303-309.]). Acta Cryst. E81, 303–309], as well as the neutral counterparts of the ions [Tothadi et al. (2020[Tothadi, S., Koner, K., Dey, K., Addicoat, M. & Banerjee, R. (2020). Appl. Mater. Interfaces 12, 15588-15594.]). ACS Appl. Mater. Inter­faces, 12, 15588–15594; Hachuła et al. (2010[Hachuła, B., Nowak, M. & Kusz, J. (2010). J. Chem. Crystallogr. 40, 201-206.]). J. Chem. Crystallogr. 40, 201–206]. The crystal packing analysis reveals the formation of hydrogen-bonded two-dimensional networks perpendicular to the [111] vector, where neighbouring planes inter­act via extensive π–π stacking.