Hirshfeld Surfaces Analysis of Intermolecular Interaction in the Series of Steroid Hormone Molecular Crystals

Abstract

In this work Hirshfeld surface analysis is performed on the crystallographic-characterized crystal cells of the progesterone, 17α-hydroxyprogesterone, and testosterone hormones. The Hirshfeld surfaces are mapped for a detailed visualization of the electron density distribution around a molecule to understand the atomic-pair close contacts and interaction types within a crystal structure of the studied hormones. The intermolecular forces, including Van der Waals forces, hydrogen bonding, and C–H···π interactions, play essential roles in determining the supramolecular arrangement of all the three molecules in their crystals. These forces contribute to the cohesion, stability, and structural organization of the crystals, ultimately influencing their properties and behaviour in various applications. Two-dimensional fingerprint plots with detailed information about the contribution of each contact to the total Hirschfeld surface allowed to provide a visual representation of the relative importance (in %) of identified intermolecular О···Н/H···O, C···Н/H···C, H···Н interactions within a crystal structure of the studied hormones in the context of “molecule-substance” relations.