Molecular conformation of a D,L stereoisomeric analogue of valinomycin, cyclo‐(L‐Val‐L‐Hyi‐L‐Val‐D‐Hyi)2‐(D‐Val‐L‐Hyi‐L‐Val‐D‐Hyi)‐

The crystal structure of a synthetic analogue of valinomycin, cyclo-(L-Val-L-Hyi-L-Val-D-Hyi)2-(D-Val-L-Hyi-L-Val-D -Hyi)- (L-Val1, L-Val5meso-valinomycin), C60H102N6O18, has been determined. Crystals grown from petroleum ether are orthorhombic, space group P2(1)2(1)2(1), with cell parameters a = 16.41(1), b = 18.76(1), c = 25.86(1) A, and Z = 4. The atomic coordinates for nonhydrogen atoms, except those of terminal carbons on one side chain, were refined in the anisotropic thermal motion approximation. The coordinate parameters of the H atoms were incorporated into the structure factor calculations at geometrically expected positions. Values of the standard and weighted R factors after refinement are 0.074 and 0.083, respectively. The crystal structure of the molecule is asymmetric and adopts a conformation with four 4----1 type and one 6----1 type intramolecular hydrogen bonds between amide nitrogens and carbonyl oxygens. Valinomycin binds potassium more than 100 times strongly than the D,L stereoisomeric analogue, as a result of a different spatial orientation of potentially interacting carbonyl groups.