The Absolute Configuration of 1-Epialexine Hemihydrate (A. L. Thompson, D. J. Watkin, Z. A. Gal, L. Jones, J. Hollinshead, S. F. Jenkinson, G. W. J. Fleet & R. J. Nash)

Acta Cryst. (2008), C64, o649-o652.    [ doi:10.1107/S0108270108037086 ]

The absolute and relative configurations of 1-epialexine are established by X-ray crystallographic analysis, giving (1S,2R,3R,7S,7aS)-1,2,7-trihydroxy-3-(hydroxymethyl)pyrrolizidine. The compound crystallizes as the hemihydrate C₈H₁₅NO₄·0.5H₂O, with hydrogen bonds holding the water molecule in a hydrophilic pocket between epialexine bilayers. In addition, a comparison was made between results obtained from examination of the Bijvoet pairs from data sets collected using molybdenum and copper radiation.