Author Archive

Hot Article: Hydrothermal growth of zinc oxide

In this CrystEngComm Hot article William Ducker from the University of Melbourne studies the mechanism for hydrothermal growth of ZnO, in collaboration with Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

Ducker comments ‘these findings may have implications for understanding how small organic molecules can be used to control the morphology of zinc oxide crystals grown under hydrothermal conditions’. The study shows that ZnO grows from aqueous zinc ions via Wülfingite, which then slowly dehydrates to form zinc oxide.

Read the full article for FREE until 10th November to find out more…

The mechanism for hydrothermal growth of zinc oxide
Nathan Johann Nicholas, George V. Franks and William A. Ducker
CrystEngComm, 2011, DOI: 10.1039/C1CE06039B

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Hot Article: Understanding (1,5) interactions

John D. Wallis and colleagues at Nottingham Trent University, the University of Southampton, Brock University and the University of Fribourg look at the (1,5) interactions between aldehyde groups and hydroxyl or methoxy groups in this CrystEngComm Hot article.

The group systematically compare naphthalene and triptycene frameworks, to greater understand OC=O molecular interactions.

Read the full article for FREE until 4th November to find out more about these interactions…

The use of the triptycene framework for observing OCO molecular interactions
Alberth Lari, Mateusz B. Pitak, Simon J. Coles, Emma Bresco, Peter Belser, Andreas Beyeler, Melanie Pilkington and John D. Wallis
CrystEngComm, 2011, DOI: 10.1039/C1CE05955F

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CrystEngComm Symposium: Pharmaceutical Polymorphism

CrystEngComm is delighted to announce that we will be hosting a FREE one-day symposium on pharmaceutical polymorphism on the 4th November in London.

The confirmed speakers include Z. Jane Li from Boehringer Ingelheim, Ivo Rietveld from Universite Paris Descartes and Graeme Day from the University of Cambridge, amongst other internationally recognised researchers from both academia and industry.

The talks will cover solid form screening, selection and manufacturing; thermodynamics, phase diagrams, properties, characterization; structure prediction; and patents. If you’re interested in pharmaceutical polymorphism this meeting is the best place to foster collaborations and learn more about the latest developments in the field!

Symposium delegates should register to attend the meeting by clicking on the ‘Register online’ link on the symposium homepage. Registration closes on Friday 21st October.

Find out more by visiting the website now: www.rsc.org/crystengcommsymposium

Keep up to date with the latest news and research in solid-state and crystalline materials: sign up to the CrystEngComm e-alert, follow us on Twitter, and like us on Facebook .

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Hot Article: Nanoparticles for the photodegradation of methyl orange

In this CrystEngComm Hot article Zhimao Yang and co-workers from Xi’an Jiaotong University make copper oxide nanostructures with copper nanoparticles grown on the {111} facets via  a one-pot method.

The nanostructures they produce demonstrate excellent photocatalytic activity in the degradation of methyl orange.

Read the full article for FREE to find out more…

Facet-selective growth of Cu–Cu2O heterogeneous architectures
Shaodong Sun, Chuncai Kong, Hongjun You, Xiaoping Song, Bingjun Ding and Zhimao Yang
CrystEngComm, 2012, DOI: 10.1039/C1CE05743J

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CrystEngComm Issue 19: Cover Artwork

The cover of CrystEngComm Issue 19 is a lovely image showing isoniazid on a back ground painting of African masks. We asked the author of the paper, Andreas Lemmerer, to tell us more about it…

‘So, the idea behind the cover all centres around the word mask, the idea to use African  Masks is because I am South African, and I liked to add an African flavour.

In our paper, we introduce two means on how to alter the hydrogen bonding functionality of the supramolecular reagent isoniazid. Firstly, we take a ketone (or aldehyde), and by reacting it with the amine part of the hydrazide group in a condensation reaction, we “modify” its hydrogen bonding potential. This is the covalent reaction that forms part of the “covalent assistance to supramolecular synthesis” concept mentioned in the title.

The modification basically involves replacing the two amine H atoms with a N=C. This can achieved quite easily using acetone, and that is shown on the left of the cover picture.

However, there is potential to further alter the hydrogen bonding, by using the steric size of larger ketones, such as benzophenone. In this case, the phenyl rings are arranged such that they prevent access to the remaining amide H atom on the now modified hydrazide function group. We call this “masking”, and is seen in the right co-crystal. So, in comparison to the acetone modified co-crystal, the amide forms a C(4) chain as amides like to do. Now, with the benzophenone modified isoniazid, this chain can not form anymore.

What makes this concept exciting is that the modification, and potential masking, is done in-situ during the co-crystallization process in a one-pot experiment.’

– Andreas Lemmerer

Visit Andreas’ website at http://wits.academia.edu/AndreasLemmerer

The image of the masks was painted by Kingsley C. Nwabia, visit the artist’s website at http://www.kaizarts.com/

Read the paper that the cover is based on…

Covalent assistance in supramolecular synthesis: in situ modification and masking of the hydrogen bonding functionality of the supramolecular reagent isoniazid in co-crystals
Andreas Lemmerer, Joel Bernstein and Volker Kahlenberg
CrystEngComm, 2011, 13, 5692-5708

or check out the inside cover…

Green synthesis of rosettelike silver nanocrystals with textured surface topography and highly efficient SERS performances
Maofeng Zhang, Aiwu Zhao, Hongyan Guo, Dapeng Wang, Zibao Gan, Henghui Sun, Da Li and Ming Li
CrystEngComm, 2011, 13, 5709-5717

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Satellite workshop on halogen bonding at IUCr 2011

Arijit Mukherjee receiving his CrystEngComm poster prize from Associate Editor Christer Aakeroy

CrystEngComm was delighted to sponsor a poster prize at a satellite meeting at IUCr 2011, ‘Categorizing Halogen Bonding and Other Noncovalent Interactions Involving Halogen Atoms’

The satellite meeting is part of an IUPAC project ‘attempting to give a modern definition of halogen bonding that is as inclusive as possible’, read more at their webpage: http://www.halogenbonding.eu/

The CrystEngComm poster prize was awarded to Arijit Mukherjee, who works in the Solid State and Structural Chemistry Unit at the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore, for his poster on ‘Halogen Bonding in Some Trichlorophenols’

Read more articles on halogen bonding by experts in the field…

The fluorine atom as a halogen bond donor, viz. a positive site
Pierangelo Metrangolo, Jane S. Murray, Tullio Pilati, Peter Politzer, Giuseppe Resnati and Giancarlo Terraneo
CrystEngComm, 2011, DOI: 10.1039/C1CE05554B

Solid-state synthesis of mixed trihalides via reversible absorption of dihalogens by non porous onium salts
Lorenzo Meazza, Javier Martí-Rujas, Giancarlo Terraneo, Chiara Castiglioni, Alberto Milani, Tullio Pilati, Pierangelo Metrangolo and Giuseppe Resnati
CrystEngComm, 2011, 13, 4427-4435

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September Crystal Clear: Silica Sunflowers

This month’s Crystal Clear shows a sunflower-like silica nanostructure made by chemical vapour deposition.

The image was created by Zhizhen Ye, Haiping He and colleagues at Zhejiang University from their work in a paper in Issue 19 of CrystEngComm.

Ye and He looked at the formation mechanism to better understand the unusual growth process observed and investigated the photoluminescent properties of the silica.

Read the full article for FREE to find out more…

Self-catalysis induced three-dimensional SiOx nanostructures
Luwei Sun, Haiping He, Chao Liu and Zhizhen Ye
CrystEngComm, 2011, 13, 5807-5812

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Book review: Proteins and crystals

Check out this Chemistry World review by Karen McLuskey of Crystals, x-rays and proteins. Comprehensive protein crystallography by Dennis Sherwood and Jon Cooper

http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/Issues/2011/March/Reviews/ProteinsAndCrystals.asp

A useful guide to the fundamentals of protein crystallography!

Other interesting articles:

Small temperature oscillations promote protein crystallization
Cecília Ferreira, Rosa Crespo, Pedro Miguel Martins, Luís Gales, Fernando Rocha and Ana Margarida Damas. CrystEngComm, 2011, 13, 3051-3056

Crystal engineering: origins, early adventures and some current trends
John Meurig Thomas. CrystEngComm, 2011, 13, 4304-4306

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CrystEngComm is on Facebook

Keep up-to-date with the latest from CrystEngComm by liking us on Facebook.

This is a great way to find out about the hottest research in crystal engineering, growth and polymorphism, as well as interviews, conference news, and book reviews.

CrystEngCommunity, the virtual web community has also started to relocate to the CrystEngComm page.

Alternatively sign up to the table-of-contents e-alert, get our RSS feed, or follow us on Twitter.

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Highlight article: Colin Seaton reviews carboxylic acid co-crystals

In this CrystEngComm Highlight article Colin Seaton from the University of Manchester looks at the crystal engineering of co-crystals between carboxylic acids. Seaton looks at how Hammett substitution constants can help in the design and creation of multi-component crystalline materials.

Read the full review article to find out more…

Creating carboxylic acid co-crystals: The application of Hammett substitution constants
Colin C. Seaton
CrystEngComm, 2011, DOI: 10.1039/C1CE05645J

To find out more about about Dr Seaton’s research read his recent CrystEngComm paper:

Epitaxial growth of polymorphic systems: The case of sulfathiazole
CrystEngComm, 2011, DOI: 10.1039/C1CE05585B

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