title: Structure and pseudosymmetry of cholesterol at 310 K.
abstract: The structure of cholesterol above the (304.8 K) phase transition, previously published in preliminary form [Hsu & Nordman (1983). Science, 220, 604-606], has been fully refined using augmented X-ray data. The crystals are triclinic, space group P1, with (reassigned) cell parameters a = 27.565 (10), b = 38.624 (16), c = 10.748 (4) A, alpha = 93.49 (3), beta = 90.90 (3), gamma = 117.15 (3) degrees, and V = 10151 (7) A(3). The unit cell contains Z = 16 molecules, of which eight are related to the other eight by unusual twofold rotational pseudosymmetry. The structure is related to the room-temperature phase, with Z = 8, by a rearrangement of some of the molecules, and by a doubling of the a axis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1055, USA.
authors.forename: Leh-Yeh
authors.initials: LY
authors.lastname: Hsu
authors.forename: Jeff W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Kampf
authors.forename: Christer E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Nordman
mesh_terms: D002784:Cholesterol / Q000737:chemistry*; D018360:Crystallography, X-Ray; D015394:Molecular Structure; D013696:Temperature
chemical_list: D002784:Cholesterol