Structure−Property Correlations in Bending and Brittle Organic Crystals
TL;DR: In this paper, a survey of 60 molecular solids was conducted to establish a causative correlation between bending and crystal packing, and a model for bending was proposed using the information obtained from X-ray diffraction, face indexing, and mechanical property measurements on both bending and non-bending (brittle) crystals.
Abstract: Bending of crystals of molecular solids occurs when the strength of intermolecular interactions in orthogonal directions is significantly different. We report here a survey of 60 molecular crystals and establish a causative correlation between bending and crystal packing. This group contains crystals with 4 and 8 A crystal axes and includes 1D, 2D, 3D, isostructural, polymorphic, stacked, interlocked, single, and multicomponent crystals and solvates. We found that 17 of these 60 crystals may be bent, whereas the rest are brittle and cannot be bent plastically. The bending crystals could be deformed into many shapes; sometimes, they could even be flattened upon themselves without breakage. A model for bending is proposed using the information obtained from X-ray diffraction, face indexing, and mechanical property measurements on both bending and non-bending (brittle) crystals. The bending and brittleness of these molecular crystals are discussed in comparison with the deformation behavior of metals. Molecu...
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TL;DR: The aim of this contribution is to provide an overview of the basic concepts of mechanochemistry in relation to inorganic and organic systems.
Abstract: Mechanochemistry of inorganic solids is a well-established field. In the last decade mechanical treatment has become increasingly popular as a method for achieving selective and “greener” syntheses also in organic systems. New groups and researchers enter the field of mechanochemistry, often re-discovering many of the previously known facts and effects, while at the same time neglecting other important concepts. The author of this contribution has long been involved in mechanochemical research in both inorganic and organic systems. The aim of this contribution is to provide an overview of the basic concepts of mechanochemistry in relation to inorganic and organic systems.
458 citations
TL;DR: This approach is applied to a sample of organic molecular crystals with known bending, shearing and brittle behaviour, to illustrate its use in rationalising their mechanical behaviour at a molecular level.
442 citations
TL;DR: In situ X-ray crystallographic analysis revealed that the deformation of the crystal is due to the elongation of the b-axis of the unit cell, which corresponds to the long axis of the plate crystal, induced by the shape change of component diarylethene molecules upon photocyclization.
Abstract: The photomechancial effect of a rectangular plate two-component cocrystal composed of a photochromic diarylethene derivative, 1,2-bis(2-methyl-5-(1-naphthyl)-3-thienyl)perfluorocyclopentene (1o), and perfluoronaphthalene (FN) has been examined. The crystal of 1o·FN with the size of 1-5 mm in length exhibits reversible bending motion upon alternate irradiation with ultraviolet (UV) and visible light. The reversible bending could be repeated over 250 times. In situ X-ray crystallographic analysis revealed that the deformation of the crystal is due to the elongation of the b-axis of the unit cell, which corresponds to the long axis of the plate crystal, induced by the shape change of component diarylethene molecules upon photocyclization. The bending motion was observed even at 4.7 K, and dynamic measurement of the bending proved that the anisotropic expansion of the crystal takes place in the microsecond time scale at the low temperature. Molecular crystal cantilevers made of 1o·FN can lift metal balls, the weight of which is 200-600 times heavier than the weight of the crystal, upon UV irradiation. The maximum stress generated by UV irradiation was estimated to be 44 MPa, which is 100 times larger than that of muscles (∼0.3 MPa) and comparable to that of piezoelectric crystals, such as lead zirconate titanate (PZT) (∼50 MPa).
407 citations
TL;DR: A remarkably flexible, elastically bendable cocrystal solvate 1 is reported, formed from caffeine, 4-chloro-3-nitrobenzoic acid, and methanol in a 1:1:< 1 ratio (Figure 1).
Abstract: Molecular crystals are among the most ancient and highly investigated materials in chemistry. However, mechanical properties of these materials have remained relatively unexplored despite their unique applications in optoelectronics, mechanical actuators, artificial muscles, pharmaceuticals, and explosives. Conserving the orientational order of molecules and bonds is important for efficient charge transport and for the lifetime of organic light-emitting diodes, transistors, and solar cells. Hence, the realization of high-performance materials with excellent self-healing capabilities or efficient stress dissipating behaviors is attractive. For this reason, the remarkable properties displayed by natural fibres such as spider silk, muscle protein titin, cytoskeleton microtubules, etc. have recently sparked tremendous interest in establishing a reliable structure–property correlation to guide the design of their mimics for various applications. A good starting point for achieving such a goal is to study much simpler and easy-to-characterize organic crystals, which selfassemble through the same noncovalent interactions. It remains a challenge to simultaneously achieve both flexibility and crystallinity in organic materials because crystallinity positively correlates with brittleness. For example, compared to highly ordered molecular crystals, liquid crystals show greater flexibility, but are less crystalline. Desiraju and co-workers showed irreversible mechanical bending in organic crystals as mediated by the movement of molecular sheets through weak interactions between them. The plastic deformation disrupts the long-range order permanently. It was also shown that reversible molecular movements in organic crystals (e.g., in photomechanical bending), can perform work in devices. Herein we report a remarkably flexible, elastically bendable cocrystal solvate 1, formed from caffeine (CAF), 4-chloro-3-nitrobenzoic acid (CNB), and methanol in a 1:1:< 1 ratio (Figure 1). The cocrystal solvate 1 retains a high internal order through an efficient stress dissipation mechanism, and hence is important in the context of crystal engineering and for the design of flexible organic materials. The single crystals of 1 could be obtained from a 1:1 molar solution of CAF and CNB in methanol by using a slow evaporation method (Figure 1). H NMR and thermogravimetric (TG) analyses have confirmed the presence of CAF, CNB, and methanol molecules in a 1:1:< 1 ratio within the lattice (see Figures S1 and S2 in the Supporting Information). The typically long needle crystals of 1 grow along the a axis (Figure 1 and Figure S4). When a straight crystal, having about a 0.1 mm thickness and 5 mm length, was pushed with a metal pin while being held with a pair of forceps (tweezers) from the opposite end, it transformed into a bent shape without breaking (Figure 2a–d and Figure S5). Further, it could be made into a loop by joining the two ends with a smooth curve (see Videos S1–S3 in the Supporting Information). Upon withdrawal of the force, the crystal quickly Figure 1. Single-crystal preparation of the cocrystal solvate 1 from a methanol solution of caffeine and 4-chloro-3-nitrobenzoic acid.
294 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a 1:1 cocrystal of caffeine and methyl gallate was formed by suspending powders of the two pure compounds in ethanol, and the tabletability of the cocrestal was excellent over the entire pressure range.
Abstract: By the formation of a 1:1 cocrystal of caffeine and methyl gallate, we demonstrated that powder compaction properties could be profoundly improved. The selection criterion for cocrystal exhibiting superior compaction properties was the presence of slip planes in crystal structure. Bulk cocrystal was prepared by suspending powders of the two pure compounds in ethanol. Fine powders of similar particle size distribution were compressed. Within the whole range of compaction pressure, the tablet tensile strength of methyl gallate was very poor ( 180 MPa, severe lamination of caffeine tablets suddenly occurred. Tablet tensile strength dropped sharply at >240 MPa. In contrast, the tabletability of the cocrystal was excellent over the entire pressure range. Tablet tensile strength of the cocrystal was ∼2 times that of caffeine at <200 MPa, and the ratio gradually increased...
292 citations
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors show that crystal engineering is a new organic synthesis, and that rather than being only nominally relevant to organic chemistry, this subject is well within the mainstream, being surprisingly similar to traditional organic synthesis in concept.
Abstract: A crystal of an organic compound is the ultimate supermolecule, and its assembly, governed by chemical and geometrical factors, from individual molecules is the perfect example of solid-state molecular recognition. Implicit in the supramolecular description of a crystal structure is the fact that molecules in a crystal are held together by noncovalent interactions. The need for rational approaches towards solid-state structures of fundamental and practical importance has led to the emergence of crystal engineering, which seeks to understand intermolecular interactions and recognition phenomena in the context of crystal packing. The aim of crystal engineering is to establish reliable connections between molecular and supramolecular structure on the basis of intermolecular interactions. Ideally one would like to identify substructural units in a target supermolecule that can be assembled from logically chosen precursor molecules. Indeed, crystal engineering is a new organic synthesis, and the aim of this article is to show that rather than being only nominally relevant to organic chemistry, this subject is well within the mainstream, being surprisingly similar to traditional organic synthesis in concept. The details vary because one is dealing here with intermolecular interactions rather than with covalent bonds; so this article is divided into two parts. The first is concerned with strategy, highlighting the conceptual relationship between crystal engineering and organic synthesis and introduces the term supramolecular synthon. The second part emphasizes methodology, that is, the chemical and geometrical properties of specific intermolecular interactions.
4,237 citations
TL;DR: Both chemical and geometrical models need to be considered for X...X interactions in hexahalogenated benzenes, where nonspecificity of the weak interlayer interactions here is demonstrated by the structure of twinned crystals of these compounds.
Abstract: The nature of intermolecular interactions between halogen atoms, X···X (X=C1, Br, I), continues to be of topical interest because these interactions may be used as design elements in crystal engineering. Hexahalogenated benzenes (C 6 Cl 6-n Br n , C 6 Cl 6-n I n , C 6 Br 6-n I n ) crystallise in two main packing modes, which take the monoclinic space group P2 1/n and the triclinic space group P1. The former, which is isostructural to C 6 Cl 6 , is more common. For molecules that lack inversion symmetry, adoption of this monoclinic structure would necessarily lead to crystallographic disorder. In C 6 Cl 6 , the planar molecules form Cl...Cl contacts and also π···π stacking interactions. When crystals of C 6 Cl 6 are compressed mechanically along their needle length, that is, [010], a bending deformation takes place, because of the stronger interactions in the stacking direction. Further compression propagates consecutively in a snakelike motion through the crystal, similar to what has been suggested for the motion of dislocations. The bending of C 6 Cl 6 crystals is related to the weakness of the Cl···Cl interactions compared with the stronger π···π stacking interactions. The triclinic packing is less common and is restricted to molecules that have a symmetrical (1,3,5- and 2,4,6-) halogen substitution pattern. This packing type is characterised by specific, polarisation-induced X···X interactions that result in threefold-symmetrical X 3 synthons, especially when X=I; this leads to a layered pseudohexagonal structure in which successive planar layers are inversion related and stacked so that bumps in one layer fit into the hollows of the next in a space-filling manner. The triclinic crystals shear on application of a mechanical stress only along the plane of deformation. This shearing arises from the sliding of layers against one another. Nonspecificity of the weak interlayer interactions here is demonstrated by the structure of twinned crystals of these compounds. One of the compounds studied (1,3,5-tribromo-2,4,6-triiodobenzene) is dimorphic, adopting both the monoclinic and triclinic structures, and the reasons for polymorphism are suggested. To summarise, both chemical and geometrical models need to be considered for X···X interactions in hexahalogenated benzenes. The X···X interactions in the monoclinic group are nonspecific, whereas in the triclinic group some X···X interactions are anisotropic, chemically specific and crystal-structure directing.
356 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the supramolecular synthon concept is used to describe the various ways in which complementary portions of molecules approach one another and the identification of synthons is then a key step in the design and analysis of crystal structures.
Abstract: The aims of crystal engineering are the understanding of intermolecular interactions and their application in the design of crystal structures with specific architectures and properties. In general, all types of crystal structures may be considered but this article is limited to organic molecular solids. Because of the molecular basis of organic chemistry, the obvious question arises as to whether there are simple connections between the structures of molecules and the crystals that they form. Answers to such questions may be found through a better and more comprehensive understanding of the interactions that control crystal packing. These interactions include strong and weak hydrogen bonds. Patterns of interactions, such as would be useful in a predictive sense, can be obtained by manual inspection or more rigorously with the use of crystallographic databases. Such patterns are termed supramolecular synthons and they depict the various ways in which complementary portions of molecules approach one another. The identification of synthons is then a key step in the design and analysis of crystal structures. Such ideas are also important in the understanding of phenomena such as biological recognition and drug-enzyme binding. Pattern identification also leads to the possibility of comparison of crystal structures. The use of the supramolecular synthon concept facilitates such efforts and in this regard it may be mentioned that synthons combine topological characteristics with chemical information, thereby offering a simplification that is optimal to drawing such comparisons.
225 citations
TL;DR: A given molecular structure can lead to more than one crystallized form, a phenomenon known as polymorphism as mentioned in this paper, which is an important scientific and technological question as more effort is brought to bear on the problem of designing materials.
Abstract: A given molecular structure can lead to more than one crystallized form, a phenomenon known as polymorphism. As discussed in the Perspective by Desiraju, polymorphism is an important scientific and technological question as more effort is brought to bear on the problem of designing materials. Moreover, polymorphism can have legal ramifications, as demonstrated in the litigation surrounding the ulcer drug Zantac.
202 citations