17α,21‐Di­hydroxy‐16β‐methylpregna‐1,4‐diene‐3,11,20‐trione (meprednisone)

The title compound, C₂₂H₂₈O₅, is a commercial therapeutic agent of the steroid class. Both independent mol­ecules in the asymmetric unit have six‐membered A rings that are planar, while the B and C rings adopt normal chair conformations. The five‐membered D ring is in a 13β,14α‐half‐chair con­formation, and the B/C and C/D ring junctions are in trans positions. Cohesion in the crystal is provided by O—H⃛O hydrogen bonds, which generate chains of mol­ecules that are organized in a plane that lies along the crystallographic b axis.