title: 16α-Bromo-17β-hydr-oxy-5α-androstan-3β-yl acetate.
abstract: The title compound, C(21)H(33)BrO(3), an inter-mediate in the synthesis of the neuromuscular blocking agent rocuronium bromide, contains two independent mol-ecules in the asymmetric unit, which have almost identical geometries: in both mol-ecules, the steroidal rings A, B and C have slightly flattened chair conformations and ring D assumes a half-chair conformation. In the crystal, O-H⋯O hydrogen bonds and weak C-H⋯O and C-H⋯Br inter-actions help to establish the packing.
authors.forename: Rui
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.forename: Chun-Sheng
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Kun
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Wei