(+ -)-2-OXOCYCLODODECANEACETIC ACID - STRUCTURE AND HYDROGEN-BONDING PATTERN OF A LARGE-RING GAMMA-KETO ACID/

In the title compound, C14H24O3, the ring adopts a typical 'square' [3 333] cyclododecane conformation and enantiomeric pairs of molecules fo rm centrosymmetric dimers across the cell corners by mutual hydrogen b onding of carboxy groups, O(2)... O(3)(-x, 2 - y, -z) [2.662(4) Angstr om]. The ketonic O(1) atom does not participate in the hydrogen bondin g but has a close contact [2.487(3) Angstrom] with the ring H(12B)(x - 1, y, z) atom of an adjacent molecule. The observed carboxy C-O and C =O bond lengths and angles correspond to accepted values for a well or dered dimer.