The Preferred Ring-Tautomeric Form of a Bicyclic γ-Ketocarboxylic Acid: An Equilibrium Driven by Relief of Angular Hybridization Strain

(±)-2-exo-Carboxy-2-endo-methyl-7-oxobicyclo[2.2.1]heptane exists preferentially in its closed, ringtautomer form, the tricyclic lactol (C9H12O3), which aggregates catemerically by forming hydroxyl-to-carbonyl hydrogen bonds [O O = 2.7667(16)A, O-H O = 170o] among molecules screw related in b. This ring-chain equilibrium is driven by relief of angular strain at the 7-ketone, whose origin is the ketone’s sp hybridization vs. the angle enforced by the bicyclic system. In the analogous compound with transposed functional groups, the equilibrium favors the keto acid, which