Modulating the preferred O—H...O hydrogen‐bonding motif in a conformationally constrained environment through hydroxy‐group derivatization

The crystal structures of three conformationally locked esters, namely the centrosymmetric tetrabenzoate of all‐axial perhydronaphthalene‐2,3,4a,6,7,8a‐hexaol, viz.trans‐4a,8a‐dihydroxyperhydronaphthalene‐2,3,6,7‐tetrayl tetrabenzoate, C₃₈H₃₄O₁₀, and the diacetate and dibenzoate of all‐axial perhydronaphthalene‐2,3,4a,8a‐tetraol, viz. (2R*,3R*,4aS*,8aS*)‐4a,8a‐dihydroxyperhydronaphthalene‐2,3‐diyl diacetate, C₁₄H₂₂O₆, and (2R*,3R*,4aS*,8aS*)‐4a,8a‐dihydroxyperhydronaphthalene‐2,3‐diyl dibenzoate, C₂₄H₂₆O₆, have been analyzed in order to examine the preference of their supramolecular assemblies towards competing inter‐ and intramolecular O—H...O hydrogen bonds. It was anticipated that the supramolecular assembly of the esters under study would adopt two principal hydrogen‐bonding modes, namely one that employs intermolecular O—H...O hydrogen bonds (mode 1) and another that sacrifices those for intramolecular O—H...O hydrogen bonds and settles for a crystal packing dictated by weak intermolecular interactions alone (mode 2). Thus, while the molecular assembly of the two crystalline diacyl derivatives conformed to a combination of hydrogen‐bonding modes 1 and 2, the crystal packing in the tetrabenzoate preferred to follow mode 2 exclusively.