(-)-Isosantonic acid: Alteration of the hydrogen-bonding mode by configurational inversion at a single centre in a γ,ε- diketocarboxylic acid

Abstract

The title diketo acid, (1R,3aS,6aS,7R,9S)-(-)-α,3a,7-trimethyl-5,8- dioxo-1,4-ethanoperhydropentalene-1-acetic acid (C15H 20O4), is shown to aggregate in the crystal structure as acid-to-ketone hydrogen-bonding catemers, whose chains follow 21 screw axes from each carboxyl to a ketone in a neighbouring molecule [O⋯O = 2.7472(13) and O⋯H - O = 172.7(17)°]. Two parallel counterdirectional screw-related single-strand hydrogen-bonding chains pass through the cell in the a direction. Six intermolecular C - H⋯O=C close contacts are found. Comparisons are drawn with a diastereomer having the opposite configuration at the methylated chiral centre adjacent to the carboxyl group.