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Updated: Jul 16, 2026

Controlling the Size, Shape and Stability of Supramolecular Polymers in Water
Published on: August 2, 2012
Supramolecular aggregation of two hydroxycarboxylic acid derivatives
C Foces-Foces1, M L Rodríguez, M Febles
1Instituto Rocasolano, CSIC, Departamento de Cristalografía, Serrano 119, E-28006 Madrid, Spain. cfoces@iqfr.csic.es
Abstract:
The crystal structures of 7,7-dicyclobutyl-5-hydroxymethyl-6-oxabicyclo[3.2.1]octane-1-carboxylic acid, C17H26O4, (I), and 1-(hydroxymethyl)-7-oxaspiro[bicyclo[3.2.1]octane-6,1'-cyclopentane]-5-carboxylic acid, C13H20O4, (II), determined at 170 K, show that the conformation of the hydroxymethyl group (anti or gauche) affects the dimensionality (one- or two-dimensional) of the supramolecular structures via O-H...O hydrogen bonds. In (I), the carboxyl and hydroxymethyl groups interact with themselves, forming a one-dimensional step-ladder, while in (II), a two-dimensional structure is made up of carboxylic acid centrosymmetric R(2)2(8) dimers connected by hydroxyl-to-ether contacts.
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