Read more for FREE about the crystal engineering possibilities at:
The role of mechanochemistry and supramolecular design in the development of pharmaceutical materials
Amit Delori , Tomislav Friščić and William Jones
CrystEngComm, 2012, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C2CE06582G
This month’s crystal clear could almost be an ice cube, it’s certainly large enough!
In fact this is a single crystal of K3B6O10Cl synthesised by Shilie Pan et al. and has dimensions of 25 x 11 x 7 mm3. The team based at Xinjiang Technical Institute of Physics & Chemistry have published their findings in Issue 3 of CrystEngComm, detailing the growth of these crystals as well as their optical properties.
Materials which possess non-linear optical (NLO) properties are of great interest given their potential applications in photonics, including optical storage and frequency mixing. Using a top-seeded solution growth method the team synthesised these large crystals and found them to have a high laser damage threshold and a wide transparency range. The K3B6O10Cl crystals are potentially promising in high-power UV light generation.
It is important for application that very high quality single crystals are formed; initially the researchers found that spontaneous nucleation and crack formation hindered quality crystal growth, with crystalline grains floating on the solution surface and attaching to the edge of the growing crystal.
To see how the team overcame these problems to produce the beautiful single crystal displayed here you can download their article now, which has been made free to access for 4 weeks.
Growth, thermal and optical properties of a novel nonlinear optical material K3B6O10Cl
Hongping Wu, Shilie Pan, Hongwei Yu, Dianzeng Jia, Aiming Chang, Hongyi Li, Fangfang Zhang and Xia Huang
CrystEngComm, 2012, 14, 799-803
DOI: 10.1039/C1CE05886J
Perovskite materials are pretty tricky to synthesise – particularly those with AxA1–x‘BO3 structure. Conventional solid state approaches suffer from contamination with unreacted materials and even sol-gel processes can result in materials with structural defects and impurities.
Chi-Young Lee and co-workers from National Tsing Hua University in Taiwan have set out to find a simpler route to synthesise these troublesome materials, developing a chemical method that requires the lowest temperature reported to date for perovskite synthesis.
Their method involves mixing TiO2 with the desired Group 2 hydroxide in sodium hydroxide solution and refluxing at 140 °C. By varying the reaction time, they were able to control the morphology as they demonstrated for SrTiO3, attributing the different forms to the relative stabilities of the crystal planes. What’s more, they could tune the composition of BaxSr1–xTiO3 through stoichiometric adjustment of the starting materials.
To find out more on Lee and his team’s perovskite synthesis, download the CrystEngComm article today…
Simple chemical preparation of perovskite-based materials using alkali treatment
Also of interest…
Following on from the previous blog last year ‘IUPAC Survey: Coordination polymer/MOF nomenclature’, we can now report the IUPAC division of Inorganic Chemistry has published a Highlight article ‘Coordination polymers, metal–organic frameworks and the need for terminology guidelines’. The paper is a summary of the work of the task group so far and the interactions they have had with scientists in the area.
The most common terms are coordination polymer and metal-organic framework and it can be difficult to know which structures are covered by which names and what these names mean to different people. This paper introduces the different ideas between various groups and provides an agenda for further work in the area.
Given the significance and interest of this article it has been made free to access until the end of March and can be downloaded below.
Coordination polymers, metal–organic frameworks and the need for terminology guidelines
Stuart R. Batten, Neil R. Champness, Xiao-Ming Chen, Javier Garcia-Martinez, Susumu Kitagawa, Lars Öhrström, Michael O’Keeffe, Myunghyun Paik Suh and Jan Reedijk
CrystEngComm, 2012, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C2CE06488J
Interest in Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs) has escalated in recent years due to potential applications in gas storage, catalysis and ion-exchange. The growing demand for these multifunctional materials imposes expectations of certain properties, which are often met by variations in construction and choice of linking ligands.
This Advance Article by Francisco Javier Martínez Casado and colleagues from Spain and Italy reports the synthesis, structural characterisation and photophysical properties of two new lead(II) butyrate-based compounds, with 3-dimensional MOF architechtures. Metal and ligand selection were targeted towards obtaining active luminescent materials, particularly due to the intense optical properties of lead(II) and the characteristic amphiphilic behaviour (organic or inorganic) of the family of metal alkanoates, also known as ‘metal soaps’.
The crystal structures of the compounds are very similar, with luminescence detected for the first time during data collection (see left). Analysis of the photoluminescence properties by UV-Vis absorption spectroscopy and steady-state fluorescence and lifetime measurements revealed exciting optical properties for the two lead(II) compounds. Excitation by UV radiation resulted in intense fluorescence indicating potential applications in the tuning of emission energies of MOFs. Future work in this area will explore these crystalline systems as potential host structures to generate electro- and photo- responsive materials for novel molecular devices.
Read the full article to find out more!
Luminescent lead(II) complexes: new three-dimensional mixed ligand MOFs
Francisco Javier Martínez Casado, Laura Cañadillas-Delgado, Fabio Cucinotta, Andrés Guerrero-Martínez, Miguel Ramos Riesco, Leonardo Marchese and José Antonio Rodríguez Cheda
CrystEngComm, 2012, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C2CE06546K
Here is this week’s selection of advanced articles of interest to crystal engineers from across the RSC journals
Articles are chosen from:
ChemComm,
Chemical Science,
CrystEngComm,
Dalton Transactions,
Journal of Materials Chemistry,
Nanoscale,
New Journal of Chemistry,
RSC Advances.
Guest-induced crystal-to-crystal expansion and contraction of a 3-D porous coordination polymer
Witold M. Bloch and Christopher J. Sumby
Chem. Commun., 2012, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C2CC17440E, Communication
Occurrence of spontaneous resolution of ketoprofen with a racemic crystal structure by simple crystallization under nonequilibrium preferential enrichment conditions
Rajesh G Gonnade, Sekai Iwama, Ryusuke Sugiwake, K Manoj, Hiroki Takahashi, Hirohito Tsue and Rui Tamura
Chem. Commun., 2012, Accepted Manuscript
DOI: 10.1039/C2CC18132K, Communication
Solvent-induced single-crystal to single-crystal transformation of a 2D coordination network to a 3D metal-organic framework greatly enhances porosity and hydrogen uptake
Wenbin Lin, Liang Wen and Peng Cheng
Chem. Commun., 2012, Accepted Manuscript
DOI: 10.1039/C2CC17298D, Communication
Breathing Molecular Crystals: Halogen and Hydrogen Bonded Porous Molecular Crystals with Solvent Induced Adaptation of the Nano-sized Channels
Kari Raatikainen and Kari Rissanen
Chem. Sci., 2012, Accepted Manuscript
DOI: 10.1039/C2SC00997H, Edge Article
Role of intermolecular interactions involving organic fluorine in trifluoromethylated benzanilides
Piyush Panini and Deepak Chopra
CrystEngComm, 2012, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C2CE06254B
Homochiral lanthanoid(III) mesoxalate metal–organic frameworks: synthesis, crystal growth, chirality, magnetic and luminescent properties
Beatriz Gil-Hernández, Jana K. Maclaren, Henning A. Höppe, Jorge Pasán, Joaquín Sanchiz and Christoph Janiak
CrystEngComm, 2012, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C2CE06496K
Synthon preferences in cocrystals of cis-carboxamides:carboxylic acids
Alaina M. Moragues-Bartolome, William Jones and Aurora J. Cruz-Cabeza
CrystEngComm, 2012
DOI: 10.1039/C2CE06241K
Enhanced formation of PbSe nanorods via combined solution–liquid–solid growth and oriented attachment
Min-Seok Kim and Yun-Mo Sung
CrystEngComm, 2012, DOI: 10.1039/C2CE06353K
A family of 2D and 3D coordination polymers involving a trigonal tritopic linker
Ines Maria Hauptvogel, Volodymyr Bon, Ronny Grünker, Igor A. Baburin, Irena Senkovska, Uwe Mueller and Stefan Kaskel
Dalton Trans., 2012, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C2DT12072K, Paper
Nanocrystalline CaYAlO4:Tb3+/Eu3+ as promising phosphors for full-color field emission displays
Dongling Geng, Guogang Li, Mengmeng Shang, Chong Peng, Yang Zhang, Ziyong Cheng and Jun Lin
Dalton Trans., 2012, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C2DT12222G, Paper
Effect of ZnS and CdS coating on the photovoltaic properties of CuInS2-sensitized photoelectrodes
Guoping Xu, Shulin Ji, Chunhui Miao, Guodong Liu and Changhui Ye
J. Mater. Chem., 2012, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C2JM15908B, Paper
A new building block, bis(thiophene vinyl)-pyrimidine, for constructing excellent two-photon absorption materials: synthesis, crystal structure and properties
Dugang Chen, Cheng Zhong, Xiaohu Dong, Zhihong Liu and Jingui Qin
J. Mater. Chem., 2012, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C2JM14766A, Paper
Large area, soft crystalline thin films of N,N′,N′′-trialkyltriazatriangulenium salts with homeotropic alignment of the discotic cores in a lamellar lattice
Thomas Just Sørensen, Christoffer B. Hildebrandt, Jonas Elm, Jens W. Andreasen, Anders Ø. Madsen, Fredrik Westerlund and Bo W. Laursen
J. Mater. Chem., 2012, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C2JM15954F, Paper
Magnetic spherical cores partly coated with periodic mesoporous organosilica single crystals
Jing Li, Yong Wei, Wei Li, Yonghui Deng and Dongyuan Zhao
Nanoscale, 2012, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C2NR11941B, Paper
A highly stable, efficient visible-light driven water photoelectrolysis system using a nanocrystalline WO3 photoanode and a methane sulfonic acid electrolyte
Renata Solarska, Rafał Jurczakowski and Jan Augustynski
Nanoscale, 2012, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C2NR11573E, Communication
Seeded growth induced amorphous to crystalline transformation of niobium oxide nanostructures
Subhra Jana and Robert M. Rioux
Nanoscale, 2012, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C2NR11803C, Paper
Sonochemistry synthesis and enhanced photocatalytic H2-production activity of nanocrystals embedded in CdS/ZnS/In2S3 microspheres
Zaoyu Shen, Gang Chen, Qun Wang, Yaoguang Yu, Chao Zhou and Yu Wang
Nanoscale, 2012, Accepted Manuscript
DOI: 10.1039/C2NR12045C, Paper
Synthesis and thermal behavior of chiral dimers: occurrence of highly frustrated and cholesteric liquid crystal phases
G. Shanker and C. V. Yelamaggad
New J. Chem., 2012, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C2NJ21035E, Paper
Cation binding resorcinarene bis-crowns: the effect of lower rim alkyl chain length on crystal packing and solid lipid nanoparticles
Kaisa Helttunen, Kirsi Salorinne, Tahnie Barboza, Hélène Campos Barbosa, Aku Suhonen and Maija Nissinen
New J. Chem., 2012, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C2NJ20981K, Paper
Improved Electrochemical Performances of Nanocrystalline Li[Li0.2Mn0.54Ni0.13Co0.13]O2 Cathode Material for Li-ion Batteries
Yuliang Cao
RSC Adv., 2012, Accepted Manuscript
DOI: 10.1039/C2RA20122D, Paper
Synthesis of CaCO3/graphene composite crystals for ultra-strong structural materials
Xiluan Wang, Hua Bai, Yuying Jia, Linjie Zhi, Liangti Qu, Yuxi Xu, Chun Li and Gaoquan Shi
RSC Adv., 2012, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C2RA00765G, Paper
Tailoring cobalt doped zinc oxide nanocrystals with high capacitance activity: factors affecting structure and surface morphology
Marauo Davis, Cenk Gümeci, Bria Black, Carol Korzeniewski and Louisa Hope-Weeks
RSC Adv., 2012, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C2RA00793B, Paper
The crystal structures and packing of organic compounds in the solid state are determined by the types of bonds between the molecules, the structure will depend upon the number, strength and orientation of inter-molecular interactions and bonds. Piyush Panini and Deepak Chopra of IISER Bhopal looked to investigate this further by synthesising, characterising and crystallising a series of 10 isomeric mono and di-trifluoromethylated benzanilides.
While the traditional C–H – – – O/N type hydrogen bonds are well studied it is more difficult to evaluate some of the weaker interactions, such as those involving halogens. In this Hot Article the authors look to link the cooperative effects of some of the weaker interactions to crystal structures and packing motifs, making some interesting discoveries.
All hot articles are free to access in CrystEngComm for 4 weeks, so you can download this article for free until next month by clicking the link below.
Role of intermolecular interactions involving organic fluorine in trifluoromethylated benzanilides
Piyush Panini and Deepak Chopra
CrystEngComm, 2012, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C2CE06254B
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Read more for FREE about MOFs at:
Homochiral lanthanoid(III) mesoxalate metal–organic frameworks: synthesis, crystal growth, chirality, magnetic and luminescent properties
Beatriz Gil-Hernández, Jana K. Maclaren, Henning A. Höppe, Jorge Pasán, Joaquín Sanchiz and Christoph Janiak
CrystEngComm, 2012, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C2CE06496K
This month sees the following articles in CrystEngComm that are in the top ten most accessed:-
Some thoughts about the single crystal growth of small molecules
Bernhard Spingler, Stephan Schnidrig, Tonya Todorova and Ferdinand Wild
CrystEngComm, 2012, 14, 751-757 DOI: 10.1039/C1CE05624G
Framework dimensionality of copper(i) coordination polymers of 4,4′-bipyrimidine controlled by anions and solvents
Masahiko Maekawa, Toshi Tominaga, Kunihisa Sugimoto, Takashi Okubo, Takayoshi Kuroda-Sowa, Megumu Munakata and Susumu Kitagawa
CrystEngComm, 2012, 14, 1345-1353 DOI: 10.1039/C1CE06328F
Two novel 2D cadmium(ii) MOFs based on flexible bis(imidazolyl) and zwitterionic dicarboxylate ligands
Xiaoju Li, Xiaofang Guo, XiuLan Weng and Shen Lin
CrystEngComm, 2012, 14, 1412-1418 DOI: 10.1039/C1CE06216F
Three unprecedented open frameworks based on a pyridyl-carboxylate: synthesis, structures and properties
Shengqun Su, Wan Chen, Xuezhi Song, Min Zhu, Chao Qin, Shuyan Song, Zhiyong Guo, Song Wang, Zhaoming Hao, Guanghua Li and Hongjie Zhang
CrystEngComm, 2012, Advance Article DOI: 10.1039/C2CE05948G
New compounds constructed from polyoxometalates and transition metal coordination complexes with lower positive charge
Yan Wang, Yu Peng, Li-Na Xiao, Yang-Yang Hu, La-Mei Wang, Zhong-Min Gao, Tie-Gang Wang, Feng-Qing Wu, Xiao-Bing Cui and Ji-Qing Xu
CrystEngComm, 2012, 14, 1049-1056 DOI: 10.1039/C1CE05633F
3D-hierarchical SnS2 micro/nano-structures: controlled synthesis, formation mechanism and lithium ion storage performances
Jiantao Zai, Xuefeng Qian, Kaixue Wang, Chao Yu, Liqi Tao, Yinglin Xiao and Jiesheng Chen
CrystEngComm, 2012, 14, 1364-1375 DOI: 10.1039/C1CE05950E
Auxiliary ligand-directed synthesis of cadmium(ii) and zinc(ii) complexes from 1-D chains to 3-D architectures with 5-nitroisophthalate
Xinyi Lu, Junwei Ye, Wei Li, Weitao Gong, Lijian Yang, Yuan Lin and Guiling Ning
CrystEngComm, 2012, 14, 1337-1344 DOI: 10.1039/C1CE06268A
Homochiral assembly of polycatenated bilayers with mixing achiral ligands
Juan Liu, Yan-Xi Tan, Fei Wang, Yao Kang and Jian Zhang
CrystEngComm, 2012, 14, 789-791 DOI: 10.1039/C2CE06297F
Conformation variation of tris(2-carboxyethyl)isocyanuric acid induced by cocrystallized N-heterocyclic organic molecules
Fangna Dai, Di Sun, Wenming Sun, Yun-Qi Liu and Daofeng Sun
CrystEngComm, 2012, 14, 1376-1381 DOI: 10.1039/C1CE06209C
Assembly of four d10-metal inorganic–organic hybrid coordination polymers based on bipyrazine imine-based ligand: Synthesis, crystal structures and luminescent properties
Yan Bai, Jun-Li Wang, Dong-Bin Dang, Meng-Meng Li and Jing-Yang Niu
CrystEngComm, 2012, Advance Article DOI: 10.1039/C1CE06030A
Why not take a look at the articles today and blog your thoughts and comments below.
Fancy submitting an article to CrystEngComm? Then why not submit to us today or alternatively email us your suggestions.
A study into the cocrystals of different cis-carboxamides with carboxylic acids has analysed the tetrameric motifs that occur. Read the paper while it is free to find out the synthon rules that Cruz-Cabeza and colleagues have come up with:
Synthon preferences in cocrystals of cis-carboxamides:carboxylic acids
Alaina M. Moragues-Bartolome, William Jones and Aurora J. Cruz-Cabeza
CrystEngComm, 2012
DOI: 10.1039/C2CE06241K
This is yet another Hot article from the themed issue on crystal engineering in the pharmaceutical industry that will be published later in the year.
