In order to elucidate the extent to which recognition of the estrogen receptor is influenced by addition of an organometallic substituent at the 17 alpha position, modification of 17 beta-estradiol at this position was carried out by using the organometallic groups -C identical to C(eta 5-C5H4)RuCp, CH2-(eta 5-C5H4)RuCp, -C identical to C-(eta 5-C5H4)-W(CO)3(Me), -(C identical to CCHO)Co2(CO)6, and -(C identical to CCH2OH)Co2(CO)6. The relative binding affinity (RBA) values for estradiol receptor alpha showed that recognition was good (RBA between 20 and 13.5%) when the organometallic moiety was attached at the end of a rigid alkyne spacer. However, the affinity of the modified hormone for the receptor was severely reduced (RBA = 1%) for a substituent such as -CH2-(eta 5-C5H4)RuCP, in which the spacer is reduced to a single flexible sp3 carbon atom, allowing the organometallic moiety greater freedom of movement around the attachment point. The RBA values found were in agreement with results obtained from a molecular-modeling study in which 5, an organometallic hormone with a rigid spacer, or 7, a molecule with a flexible spacer, was inserted into the cavity of the recently characterized Ligand-Binding Domain of estrogen receptor alpha.