Four N7‐benzyl‐substituted 4,5,6,7‐tetrahydro‐1H‐pyrazolo[3,4‐b]pyridine‐5‐spiro‐1′‐cyclohexane‐2′,6′‐diones as ethanol hemisolvates: similar molecular constitutions but different crystal structures

3‐tert‐Butyl‐7‐(4‐chlorobenzyl)‐4′,4′‐dimethyl‐1‐phenyl‐4,5,6,7‐tetrahydro‐1H‐pyrazolo[3,4‐b]pyridine‐5‐spiro‐1′‐cyclohexane‐2′,6′‐dione ethanol hemisolvate, C₃₀H₃₄ClN₃O₂·0.5C₂H₆O, (I), its 7‐(4‐bromobenzyl)‐ analogue, C₃₀H₃₄BrN₃O₂·0.5C₂H₆O, (II), and its 7‐(4‐methylbenzyl)‐ analogue, C₃₁H₃₇N₃O₂·0.5C₂H₆O, (III), are isomorphous, with the ethanol component disordered across a twofold rotation axis in the space group C2/c. In the corresponding 7‐[4‐(trifluoromethyl)benzyl]‐ compound, C₃₁H₃₄F₃N₃O₂·0.5C₂H₆O, (IV), the ethanol component is disordered across a centre of inversion in the space group P. In each of (I)–(IV), the reduced pyridine ring adopts a half‐chair conformation. The heterocyclic components in (I)–(III) are linked into centrosymmetric dimers by a single C—H...π interaction, with the half‐occupancy ethanol component linked to the dimer by a combination of C—H...O and O—H...π(arene) hydrogen bonds. The heterocyclic molecules in (IV) are linked into chains of centrosymmetric rings by C—H...O and C—H...π hydrogen bonds, again with the half‐occupancy ethanol component pendent from the chain. The significance of this study lies in the isomorphism of the related derivatives (I)–(III), in the stoichiometric hemisolvation by ethanol, where the disordered solvent molecule is linked to the heterocyclic component by a two‐point linkage, and in the differences between the crystal structures of (I)–(III) and that of (IV).