CRYSTAL STRUCTURE ANALYSIS AND THE POSSIBLE ROLE OF HYDROGEN BONDING IN A SERIES OF SOME STEROIDAL MOLECULES

Rajnikant and Kamni

Condensed Matter Physics Laboratory, Department of Physics, University of Jammu, Jammu Tawi - 180 006, India (rkantverma@rediffmail.com)

The work reported here is based on a comparative analysis of C-H…O hydrogen bonded interactions which play an indispensable role in organic molecular assemblies. C-H…O intra and intermolecular interactions have been examined which exist in a series of some steroidal molecules. The analysis of hydrogen bonding has been made on the basis of some recent spurt in literature which has come up during the past ten years or so and more recently in the IUCr monogram on crystallography by Desiraju and Steiner (1999). We have selected the C-H…O hydrogen bond as the prototype of the entire interaction type and have analysed it in a case of fifteen steroidal molecules whose three- dimensional molecular and crystal structures have also been determined. Taking in account the generalized distance and angle cut-off criterion for intra and intermolecular interactions, we have found that both these kind of interactions in steroids fall in the range of “intermediate to strong and weak interactions”. Graphical projection of interaction data further authenticate our findings. Details would be presented.