Crystal structures of vortioxetine and its methanol monosolvate

Vortioxetine, C18H22N2S, (1), systematic name 1-{2-[(2,4-di­methyl­phen­yl)sulfan­yl]phen­yl}piperazine, a new drug used to treat patients with major depressive disorder, has been crystallized as the free base and its methanol monosolvate, C18H22N2S·CH3OH, (2). In both structures, the vortioxetine mol­ecules have similar conformations: in (1), the dihedral angle between the aromatic rings is 80.04 (16)° and in (2) it is 84.94 (13)°. The C—S—C bond angle in (1) is 102.76 (14)° and the corresponding angle in (2) is 103.41 (11)°. The piperazine ring adopts a chair conformation with the exocyclic N—C bond in a pseudo-equatorial orientation in both structures. No directional inter­actions beyond normal van der Waals contacts could be identified in the crystal of (1), whereas in (2), the vortioxetine and methanol mol­ecules are linked by N—H⋯O and O—H⋯N hydrogen bonds, generating [001] chains.