The high-Z′ (Z′
= 7) structure of glycyl-l-valine has been redetermined at
298 K, using synchrotron radiation and exploiting the superspace
approach. The analysis of the diffraction data reveals that the structure
can be described as a commensurately modulated crystal structure with
superspace group P212121(0σ20)000 and modulation wave vector q = (0, 2/7, 0). A new Z′ = 1 phase
has been discovered for this compound at 323 K that is related
to the known Z′ = 7 phase. The origin of the
modulated phase has been explored by analyzing intermolecular interactions
and molecular conformations in terms of t-plots and
through a comparison to (1) the newly discovered high-temperature
phase, (2) a hypothetical Z′ = 1 structure
at 298 K, and (3) a similar Z′ = 1
structure of the related compound glycyl-l-leucine. The results
show that the conformational flexibility of the glycyl-l-valine
molecule ensures optimization of the hydrogen-bond network which causes
the modulation and thus a high Z′ value of
the supercell. This study highlights the elegance and convenience
of the superspace approach to explain the occurrence of at least part
of the rarely occurring high-Z′ structures
of molecular compounds.