Crystal structures of the two epimers from the unusual thermal C6-epimerization of 5-oxo-1,2,3,5,5a,6,7,9b-octa­hydro-7,9a-ep­oxy­pyrrolo­[2,1-a]iso­indole-6-carb­oxy­lic acid, 5a(RS),6(SR),7(RS),9a(SR),9b(SR) and 5a(RS),6(RS),7(RS),9a(SR),9b(SR)

The isomeric title compounds, C(12)H(13)NO(4) (Ia) and C(12)H(13)NO(4) (IIa), the products of an usual thermal C6-epimerization of 5-oxo-1,2,3,5,5a,6,7,9b-octa­hydro-7,9a-ep­oxy­pyrrolo­[2,1-a]iso­indole-6-carb­oxy­lic acid, represent the two different diastereomers and have very similar mol­ecular geometries. The mol­ecules of both compounds comprise a fused tetra­cyclic system containing four five-membered rings (pyrrolidine, pyrrolidinone, di­hydro­furan and tetra­hydro­furan), all of which adopt the usual envelope conformations. The dihedral angle between the basal planes of the pyrrolidine and pyrrolidinone rings are 14.3 (2) and 16.50 (11)°, respectively, for (Ia) and (IIa). The nitro­gen atom has a slightly pyramidalized geometry [bond-angle sum = 355.9 and 355.3°, for (Ia) and (IIa)], respectively. In the crystal of (Ia), mol­ecules form zigzag-like hydrogen-bonded chains along [010] through strong O—H⋯O hydrogen bonds and are further linked by weak C—H⋯O hydrogen bonds into complex two-tier layers parallel to (100). Unlike (Ia), the crystal of (IIa) contains centrosymmetric cyclic hydrogen-bonded dimers [graph set R (2) (2)(14)], formed through strong O—H⋯O hydrogen bonds and are further linked by weak C—H⋯O hydrogen bonds into ribbons extending across [101].