Structural differences in D and L-monellin in the crystals of racemic mixture.

The racemic mixture of synthetic d and l-monellin has been crystallized, and its structure has been determined by X-ray crystallography at 1.9 A resolution. The crystal structure consists of two d and two l-monellin molecules in the P1 unit cell with a pseudo-centrosymmetrical arrangement. The final structure reveals small but significant structural differences between d and l-monellin in the same crystal. Possible reasons for these differences and their implications are discussed.