(+)‐Camphor­acetic acid: catemeric hydrogen bonding in a γ‐keto acid

The title compound, (1R)‐4,7,7‐tri­methyl‐3‐oxobi­cyclo­[2.2.1]­heptane‐2‐endo‐acetic acid, C₁₂H₁₈O₃, like its lower homolog, forms carboxyl‐to‐ketone hydrogen‐bonding catemers (Z′ = 2) [O⋯O = 2.729 (5) and 2.707 (5) Å, and O—H⋯O = 165 and 170°] with screw‐related components. The two mol­ecules of the asymmetric unit differ slightly in conformation and produce two counter‐aligned hydrogen‐bonding chains, both aligned with the b axis. Close intermolecular C—H⋯O=C contacts exist for the ketone group of one mol­ecule and for both the ketone and carboxyl functions in the other.     

(±)‐3‐Oxocyclo­pentanecarboxylic acid: the smallest keto acid known to aggregate by catemeric hydrogen bonding

The title compound, C₆H₈O₃, is the smallest keto acid yet found to aggregate in the solid as acid‐to‐ketone hydrogen‐bonded catemers. Four translational chains pass through the cell in the a direction [O⋯O = 2.6915 (14) Å and O—H⋯O = 166°]. Two inter­molecular C—H⋯O close contacts exist, involving both carbonyl functions.     

(+)‐3‐Oxo‐4‐pregnene‐20β‐carboxyl­ic acid: catemeric hydrogen bonding in a steroidal keto acid

The title keto acid, (+)‐23,24‐dinor‐3‐oxo­chol‐4‐en‐22‐oic acid, C₂₂H₃₂O₃, forms carboxyl‐to‐ketone hydrogen‐bonding catemers [O?O = 2.699 (4) Å and O—H?O = 173°], linking mol­ecules screw‐related in b. The four mol­ecules in the cell form two parallel counter‐directional chains, screw‐related in a. Intermolecular C—H?O=C close contacts to different neighboring mol­ecules were found for the ketone and the acid.     

(+)‐3,11‐Dioxoandrost‐4‐ene‐17β‐carboxyl­ic acid: catemeric hydrogen bonding in a steroidal keto acid

The title keto acid, C₂₀H₂₆O₄, forms carboxyl‐to‐ketone hydrogen‐bonding catemers [O?O = 2.653 (5) Å and O—H?O = 172 (5)°], linking translationally related mol­ecules via the A‐ring ketone. The two mol­ecules in the cell form two parallel counter‐directional chains, screw‐related in b. A total of four intermolecular C—H?O=C close contacts was found, involving both ketone functions.     

Two (+)‐α,4‐dimethyl‐2‐oxocyclo­hexaneacetic acids: hydrogen bonding in a terpenoid γ‐keto acid and in a diastereomeric lactol

The (+)‐(αS,1S,4R)‐diastereomer of the title structure, C₁₀H₁₆O₃, aggregates in the solid as non‐symmetric dimers with disorder in both carboxyl groups [O·O = 2.710 (5) and 2.638 (5) Å]. The two mol­ecules constituting the asymmetric unit pair around a pseudo‐twofold rotational axis and differ only slightly in their distances and angles, but one methyl group displays rotational disorder absent in the other mol­ecule. Five inter­molecular C—H·O close contacts exist, involving both ketone groups. The (+)‐(αR,1R,4R)‐diastereomer exists in the crystal in its closed‐ring lactol form, (3R,3aR,6R,7aR)‐2,3,3a,4,5,6,7,7a‐octa­hydro‐7a‐hydroxy‐3,6‐dimethyl­benzo[b]furan‐2‐one, C₁₀H₁₆O₃, and aggregates as hydrogen‐bonded catemers that extend from the hydroxyl group of one mol­ecule to the carbonyl group of a neighbor screw‐related along b [O·O = 2.830 (3) Å and O—H·O = 169°]. One close inter­molecular C—H·O contact exists involving the carbonyl group.     

9α‐Fluoro‐16α‐methyl‐3,11‐dioxoandrosta‐1,4‐diene‐17β‐carboxyl­ic acid: catemeric hydrogen bonding and acetic acid solvation in a steroidal keto acid related to dexamethasone

The title keto acid crystallizes as a solvate, C₂₁H₂₅FO₄·C₂H₄O₂, with two mol­ecules each of steroid and acetic acid per asymmetric unit. The former are approximately parallel, with opposite end‐to‐end orientation, and form translational carboxyl‐to‐ketone hydrogen‐bonding catemers [O⋯O = 2.679 (6) and 2.650 (5) Å, and O—H⋯O = 165 and 162°] that involve the 3‐ketone group and follow the a axis. The acetic acid mol­ecules are paired by hydrogen bonding, and neither they nor the F atom nor the 11‐ketone group play any overt role in the hydrogen‐bonding scheme of the steroid. Intermolecular C—H⋯O=C close contacts involving three different neighboring mol­ecules exist to the 11‐ketone group, the steroidal carboxyl group and one of the acetic acid molecules.     

()‐3‐Ethyl‐2‐methyl‐4‐oxo­cyclo­hexane­carboxyl­ic acid: catemeric hydrogen bonding in a cyclic δ‐keto acid

In the title compound, C₁₀H₁₆O₃, the two mol­ecules of the asymmetric unit form acid‐to‐ketone hydrogen‐bonded chains. The two species differ only very slightly and are related by a pseudo‐center, so that the apparent translational relationship among the units of the hydrogen‐bonded chain is actually a pseudo‐translation, with the mol­ecules alternating in type. Two counterdirectional pairs of chains proceed through each cell [O⋯O = 2.743 (2) and 2.683 (2) Å, and O—H⋯O = 171 (3) and 157 (3)°]. Three intermolecular C—H⋯O close contacts were found, involving all three O atoms of one of the mol­ecules.     

(–)‐2‐(1,2,3,4,4a,5,6,7,8,8aα‐Decahydro‐4aβ,8α‐dimethyl‐7‐oxo‐2β‐naphthyl)propionic acid: catemeric hydrogen bonding in a bicyclic sesquiterpenoid ζ‐keto acid

In the title compound, C₁₅H₂₄O₃, derived from a naturally occurring sesquiterpenoid, the asymmetric unit consists of two mol­ecules differing by 167.4 (8)° in the rotational conformation of the carboxyl group. Each molecule aggregates separately with its own type as carboxyl‐to‐ketone hydrogen‐bonding catemers [O⋯O = 2.715 (6) and 2.772 (6) Å, and O—H⋯O = 169 and 168°]. This generates two crystallographically independent single‐strand hydrogen‐bonding helices passing through the cell in the b direction, with opposite end‐to‐end orientations. One intermolecular C—H⋯O=C close contact exists for the carboxyl group of one of the mol­ecules. The structure is isostructural with that of a closely related unsaturated keto acid reported previously.     

(±)‐cis‐2‐Methyl‐4‐oxo­cyclo­hexane­carboxyl­ic acid: catemeric hydrogen bonding in a δ‐keto acid derived from Hagemann's ester

The title compound, C₈H₁₂O₃, crystallizes as acid‐to‐ketone hydrogen‐bonding catemers, in which hydrogen bonds progress from the carboxyl group of each mol­ecule to the ketone group of a translationally related neighbor [O⋯O = 2.738 (3) Å and O—H⋯O = 153 (4)°]. Four separate hy­drogen‐bonding chains proceed through the cell in centrosymmetrically related pairs along axes lying in the ab plane. Three intermolecular C—H⋯O close contacts exist involving both carboxyl O atoms. Factors contributing to the choice of hydrogen‐bonding mode are discussed.     

(±)‐7‐Oxo‐1,2,3,4,4a,5,6,7‐octa­hydro­naphthalene‐1‐acetic acid: catemeric hydrogen bonding and diastereomeric disorder in a bicyclic unsaturated ɛ‐keto acid

The 68.5:31.5 mixture of diastereoisomers obtained in the synthesis of the title compound, C₁₂H₁₆O₃, yielded sharply melting crystals containing the same ratio of epimers, in a disordered crystallographic arrangement. The disorder resides almost entirely in the carboxy­methyl side chain, but places the two sets of carboxyl O atoms at nearly identical paired spatial positions. Neither component displays significant carboxyl disorder, and the mol­ecules aggregate as hydrogen‐bonded carboxyl‐to‐ketone catemers [O⋯O = 2.673 (4) Å and O—H⋯O = 158°] having glide‐related components, with centro­symmetrically related pairs of chains following axes perpendicular to b. Close intermolecular C—H⋯O contacts exist for both the ketone and the carboxyl group. The energetics of the epimers and of their crystallization mode are discussed.     

()‐3‐Oxo­cyclo­hexane­carboxyl­ic and ‐acetic acids: contrasting hydrogen‐bonding patterns in two homologous keto acids

The crystal structures for the title compounds reveal fundamentally different hydrogen‐bonding patterns. ()‐3‐Oxo­cyclo­hexanecarboxylic acid, C₇H₁₀O₃, displays acid‐to‐ketone catemers having a glide relationship for successive components of the hydrogen‐bonding chains which advance simultaneously by two cells in a and one in c [O?O = 2.683 (3) Å and O—H?O = 166°]. A pair of intermolecular close contacts exists involving the acid carbonyl group. The asymmetric unit in ()‐3‐oxo­cyclo­hexane­acetic acid, C₈H₁₂O₃, utilizes only one of two available isoenthalpic conformers and its aggregation involves mutual hydrogen bonding by centrosymmetric carboxyl dimerization [O?O = 2.648 (3) Å and O—H?O = 171°]. Intermolecular close contacts exist for both the ketone and the acid carbonyl group.     

4‐Oxo­cyclo­hexane­carboxyl­ic acid: hydrogen bonding in the monohydrate of a δ‐keto acid

The title monohydrate, C₇H₁₀O₃·H₂O, aggregates as a complex hydrogen‐bonding network, in which the water mol­ecule accepts a hydrogen bond from the carboxyl group of one mol­ecule and donates hydrogen bonds to ketone and carboxyl Czdbnd;O functions in two additional mol­ecules, yielding a sheet‐like structure of parallel ribbons. The keto acid adopts a chiral conformation through rotation of the carboxyl group by 62.50 (15)° relative to the plane defined by its point of attachment and the ketone C and O atoms. Two C—H⋯O close contacts exist in the structure.     

Polymorphism vs. Desmotropy: The Cases of 3‐Phenyl‐ and 5‐Phenyl‐ 1H‐pyrazoles and 3‐Phenyl‐1H‐indazole

Two desmotropes, 3‐phenyl‐1H‐pyrazole ( 1a ) and 5‐phenyl‐1H‐pyrazole ( 1b ) have been isolated and the conditions for their interconversion established. The X‐ray structure of 1b has been determined (a=10.862(1), b=5.7620(5), c=12.927(2) Å, β=111.435(2)°, space group P2₁/c), and both tautomers 1a and 1b were characterized by NMR in the solid state (¹³C‐ and ¹⁵N‐CPMAS). In the case of 3‐phenyl‐1H‐indazole ( 2a ), two concomitant polymorphs have been analyzed by X‐ray crystallography, and their NMR spectral properties were determined. The low‐melting‐point polymorph, at 106.7°, contains three molecules in the asymmetric unit (a=41.086(1), b=7.3860(2), c=23.391(1) Å, β=117.697(1)°, space group C2/c) and the high‐melting‐point one, 115.3°, six molecules (a=13.7818(4), b=13.7976(5), c=18.9445(5) Å, α=94.300(3), β=95.131(3), γ=119.428(3)°, space group P‐1). Here, too, it has been experimentally determined how to transform one form into the other. Density‐functional‐theory calculations at the B3LYP/6‐31G** level have been performed in both examples to rationalize the stability of the different tautomers.