| Abstract: | The anhydrous form, (I), of the title compound, (?)‐2‐(1,2,3,4,4a,7‐hexahydro‐4a,8‐dimethyl‐1,7‐dioxo‐2‐naphthyl)propionic acid, C15H18O4, derived from a naturally occurring sesquiterpenoid, has two molecules in the asymmetric unit, (I) and (I′), differing in the conformations of the saturated ring and the carboxyl group. The compound aggregates as carboxyl‐to‐ketone hydrogen‐bonding catemers O?O = 2.776 (3) and 2.775 (3) Å]. Two crystallographically independent sets of single‐strand hydrogen‐bonding helices with opposite end‐to‐end orientation pass through the cell in the b direction, one consisting exclusively of molecules of (I) and the other entirely of (I′). Three C—H?O=C close contacts are found in (I). The monohydrate, C15H18O4·H2O, (II), with two molecules of (I) plus two water molecules in its asymmetric unit, forms a complex three‐dimensional hydrogen‐bonding network including acid‐to‐water, water‐to‐acid, water‐to‐ketone, water‐to‐water and acid‐to‐acid hydrogen bonds, plus three C—H?O=C close contacts. In both (I) and (II), only the ketone remote from the acid is involved in hydrogen bonding. |
