MADURAHYDROXYLACTONE

The data acquisition for the title compound, 3,9,11,14,15-pentahydroxy-7-methoxy-10-methyl- 1,3,5,6,8,13-hexahydronaphthaceno[1,2-f]isobenzofuran-1,8,13-trione acetonitrile solvate, C(26)H(18)0(10).C2H3N, was carried out using an image-plate detector [T = 293 K, R = 0.149, wR = 0.120 for 4211 unique image-plate data with /F/ > 1 sigma(F)] and also using a scintillation detector [T = 193 K, R = 0.132, wR = 0.121 for 1910 unique data > 1 sigma(F)]. It was not possible to solve the phase problem with the scintillation detector data set, the average I/sigma being too small. The structure analysis corrects the molecular structure of madurahydroxylactone suggested ambiguously by spectroscopic methods. Three of the five hydroxy groups are involved in intramolecular hydrogen bonding.