Plane-Wave Density Functional Theory Meets Molecular Crystals: Thermal Ellipsoids and Intermolecular Interactions

Molecular Understanding of Adhesion of Epoxy Resin to Graphene and Graphene Oxide Surfaces in Terms of Orbital Interactions

The adhesion mechanism of epoxy resin (ER) cured material consisting of diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A (DGEBA) and 4,4'-diaminodiphenyl sulfone (DDS) to pristine graphene and graphene oxide (GO) surfaces is investigated on the basis of first-principles density functional theory (DFT) with dispersion correction. Graphene is often used as a reinforcing filler incorporated into ER polymer matrices. The adhesion strength is significantly improved by using GO obtained by the oxidation of graphene. The interfacial interactions at the ER/graphene and ER/GO interfaces were analyzed to clarify the origin of this adhesion. The contribution of dispersion interaction to the adhesive stress at the two interfaces is almost identical. In contrast, the DFT energy contribution is found to be more significant at the ER/GO interface. Crystal orbital Hamiltonian population (COHP) analysis suggests the existence of hydrogen bonding (H-bonding) between the hydroxyl, epoxide, amine, and sulfonyl groups of the ER cured with DDS and the hydroxyl groups of the GO surface, in addition to the OH-π interaction between the benzene rings of ER and the hydroxyl groups of the GO surface. The H-bond has a large orbital interaction energy, which is found to contribute significantly to the adhesive strength at the ER/GO interface. The overall interaction at the ER/graphene is much weaker due to antibonding type interactions just below the Fermi level. This finding indicates that only dispersion interaction is significant when ER is adsorbed on the graphene surface.

Supramolecular Organization in Salts of Riluzole with Dihydroxybenzoic Acids—The Key Role of the Mutual Arrangement of OH Groups

Intermolecular interactions, in particular hydrogen bonds, play a key role in crystal engineering. The ability to form hydrogen bonds of various types and strengths causes competition between supramolecular synthons in pharmaceutical multicomponent crystals. In this work, we investigate the influence of positional isomerism on the packing arrangements and the network of hydrogen bonds in multicomponent crystals of the drug riluzole with hydroxyl derivatives of salicylic acid. The supramolecular organization of the riluzole salt containing 2,6-dihydroxybenzoic acid differs from that of the solid forms with 2,4- and 2,5-dihydroxybenzoic acids. Because the second OH group is not at position 6 in the latter crystals, intermolecular charge-assisted hydrogen bonds are formed. According to periodic DFT calculations, the enthalpy of these H-bonds exceeds 30 kJ·mol−1. The positional isomerism appears to have little effect on the enthalpy of the primary supramolecular synthon (65–70 kJ·mol−1), but it does result in the formation of a two-dimensional network of hydrogen bonds and an increase in the overall lattice energy. According to the results of the present study, 2,6-dihydroxybenzoic acid can be treated as a promising counterion for the design of pharmaceutical multicomponent crystals.

Mechanisms of Crystal Plasticization by Lattice Water

PURPOSE

Water of crystallization has been observed to increase plasticity, decrease crystal hardness, and improve powder compressibility and tabletability of organic crystals. This work is aimed at gaining a molecular level insight into this observation.

METHOD

We systematically analyzed crystal structures of five stoichiometric hydrate systems, using several complementary techniques of analysis, including energy framework, water environment, overall packing change, hydrate stability, and slip plane identification.

RESULTS

The plasticizing effect by lattice water is always accompanied by an introduction of more facile slip planes, lower packing efficiency, and lower density in all hydrate systems examined in this work. Three distinct mechanisms include 1) changing the distribution of intermolecular interactions without significantly changing the packing of molecules to introduce more facile slip planes; 2) changing packing feature into a flat layered structure so that more facile slip planes are introduced; 3) reducing the interlayer interaction energies and increasing the anisotropy.

CONCLUSION

Although the specific mechanisms for these five systems differ, all five hydrates are featured with more facile slip planes, lower packing efficiency, and lower density.

Fast Quantum Approach for Evaluating the Energy of Non-Covalent Interactions in Molecular Crystals: The Case Study of Intermolecular H-Bonds in Crystalline Peroxosolvates

Energy/enthalpy of intermolecular hydrogen bonds (H-bonds) in crystals have been calculated in many papers. Most of the theoretical works used non-periodic models. Their applicability for describing intermolecular H-bonds in solids is not obvious since the crystal environment can strongly change H-bond geometry and energy in comparison with non-periodic models. Periodic DFT computations provide a reasonable description of a number of relevant properties of molecular crystals. However, these methods are quite cumbersome and time-consuming compared to non-periodic calculations. Here, we present a fast quantum approach for estimating the energy/enthalpy of intermolecular H-bonds in crystals. It has been tested on a family of crystalline peroxosolvates in which the H∙∙∙O bond set fills evenly (i.e., without significant gaps) the range of H∙∙∙O distances from ~1.5 to ~2.1 Å typical for strong, moderate, and weak H-bonds. Four of these two-component crystals (peroxosolvates of macrocyclic ethers and creatine) were obtained and structurally characterized for the first time. A critical comparison of the approaches for estimating the energy of intermolecular H-bonds in organic crystals is carried out, and various sources of errors are clarified.

Comparison of Proton Acceptor and Proton Donor Properties of H2O and H2O2 in Organic Crystals of Drug-like Compounds: Peroxosolvates vs. Crystallohydrates

Two new peroxosolvates of drug-like compounds were synthesized and studied by a combination of X-ray crystallographic, Raman spectroscopic methods, and periodic DFT computations. The enthalpies of H-bonds formed by hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) as a donor and an acceptor of protons were compared with the enthalpies of analogous H-bonds formed by water (H₂O) in isomorphic (isostructural) hydrates. The enthalpies of H-bonds formed by H₂O₂ as a proton donor turned out to be higher than the values of the corresponding H-bonds formed by H₂O. In the case of H₂O₂ as a proton acceptor in H-bonds, the ratio appeared reversed. The neutral O∙∙∙H-O/O∙∙∙H-N bonds formed by the lone electron pair of the oxygen atom of water were the strongest H-bonds in the considered crystals. In the paper, it was found out that the low-frequency Raman spectra of isomorphous crystalline hydrate and peroxosolvate of N-(5-Nitro-2-furfurylidene)-1-aminohydantoin are similar. As for the isostructural hydrate and peroxosolvate of the salt of protonated 2-amino-nicotinic acid and maleic acid monoanion, the Raman spectra are different.

Non-covalent interactions of the hydroperoxo group in crystalline adducts of organic hydroperoxides and their potassium salts

X-ray diffraction of three new stable cocrystals of potassium salts of organic hydroperoxides with molecular hydroperoxides reveals strong charge-assisted ROO−⋯HOOR H-bonds.

Tuning the quasi-harmonic treatment of crystalline ionic liquids within the density functional theory

Five ionic liquids are selected for benchmarking the performance of quasi-harmonic density functional theory (DFT) calculations of structural, phonon, and thermodynamic properties of their crystals. Data predicted by individual computational setups are sorted, establishing a distinct hierarchy among the first-principles approaches. PBE-D3 and B3LYP-D3 functionals are coupled with various plane wave and Gaussian-type orbital (GTO) basis sets. Propagation of the basis set superposition error and of the imperfections of both functionals into finite-temperature properties is discussed in detail. PBE-D3 together with a triple-zeta GTO basis set often yields the most accurate predictions of predicted molar volume and heat capacity with errors at 1% and 8%, respectively, representing the state-of-the-art for quasi-harmonic DFT calculations for crystalline ionic liquids. Fortuitous error cancellation between the basis-set superposition (overbinding) and PBE imperfection (overexpanding) strongly affects the overall accuracy, unlike the case of B3LYP/GTO calculations, impeding systematic convergence of the methodology towards higher accuracy.

Crystalline Peroxosolvates: Nature of the Coformer, Hydrogen-Bonded Networks and Clusters, Intermolecular Interactions

Despite the technological importance of urea perhydrate (percarbamide) and sodium percarbonate, and the growing technological attention to solid forms of peroxide, fewer than 45 peroxosolvates were known by 2000. However, recent advances in X-ray diffractometers more than tripled the number of structurally characterized peroxosolvates over the last 20 years, and even more so, allowed energetic interpretation and gleaning deeper insight into peroxosolvate stability. To date, 134 crystalline peroxosolvates have been structurally resolved providing sufficient insight to justify a first review article on the subject. In the first chapter of the review, a comprehensive analysis of the structural databases is carried out revealing the nature of the co-former in crystalline peroxosolvates. In the majority of cases, the coformers can be classified into three groups: (1) salts of inorganic and carboxylic acids; (2) amino acids, peptides, and related zwitterions; and (3) molecular compounds with a lone electron pair on nitrogen and/or oxygen atoms. The second chapter of the review is devoted to H-bonding in peroxosolvates. The database search and energy statistics revealed the importance of intermolecular hydrogen bonds (H-bonds) which play a structure-directing role in the considered crystals. H2O2 always forms two H-bonds as a proton donor, the energy of which is higher than the energy of analogous H-bonds existing in isostructural crystalline hydrates. This phenomenon is due to the higher acidity of H2O2 compared to water and the conformational mobility of H2O2. The dihedral angle H-O-O-H varies from 20 to 180° in crystalline peroxosolvates. As a result, infinite H-bonded 1D chain clusters are formed, consisting of H2O2 molecules, H2O2 and water molecules, and H2O2 and halogen anions. H2O2 can form up to four H-bonds as a proton acceptor. The third chapter of the review is devoted to energetic computations and in particular density functional theory with periodic boundary conditions. The approaches are considered in detail, allowing one to obtain the H-bond energies in crystals. DFT computations provide deeper insight into the stability of peroxosolvates and explain why percarbamide and sodium percarbonate are stable to H2O2/H2O isomorphic transformations. The review ends with a description of the main modern trends in the synthesis of crystalline peroxosolvates, in particular, the production of peroxosolvates of high-energy compounds and mixed pharmaceutical forms with antiseptic and analgesic effects.

Statistical Mechanical Approximations to More Efficiently Determine Polymorph Free Energy Differences for Small Organic Molecules

Methods to efficiently determine the relative stability of polymorphs of organic crystals are highly desired in crystal structure predictions (CSPs). Current methodologies include calculating the free energy of static lattice phonons, quasi-harmonic approximations (QHA), and computing the full thermodynamic cycle using replica exchange molecular dynamics (REMD). We found that 13 out of the 29 systems minimized from experimental crystal structures restructured to a lower energy minimum when heated and annealed using REMD, a phenomenon that QHA alone cannot capture. Here, we present a series of methods that are intermediate in accuracy and expense between QHA and computing the full thermodynamic cycle, which can save 42-80% of the computational cost and introduces, on this benchmark, a relatively small (0.16 ± 0.04 kcal/mol) error relative to the full thermodynamic cycle. In particular, a method that Boltzmann weights harmonic free energies from along the trajectory of REMD replica exchange appears to be an appropriate intermediate between QHA and the full thermodynamic cycle using MD when screening crystal polymorph stability.

Mechanochemical reactions of cocrystals: comparing theory with experiment in the making and breaking of halogen bonds in the solid state

Mechanochemical re-investigation of the halogen-bonded cocrystallisation of 1,4-diazabicyclo[2.2.2]-octane and 1,2-diiodotetrafluorobenzene revealed an unexpectedly complex system with three distinct cocrystal compositions, one of which also exhibits temperature-dependent polymorphism. This provided an opportunity to experimentally test the ability of dispersion-corrected periodic density functional theory (DFT) to not only explain the formation, but also predict the interconversion between halogen-bonded cocrystals of different stoichiometries.

Theoretical investigation into the cooperativity effect of 1,4-dimethoxy-D-glucosamine complex with Na+ and H2O

In order to explore the essence of the hydration process of chitin or chitosan in the presence of cation, the cooperativity effects between the H-bonding and Na⁺···molecule interactions in the 1,4-dimethoxy-D-glucosamine (DMGA) complexes with H₂O and Na⁺ were investigated at the B3LYP/6-311++G(d,p), M06-2X/6-311++G(2df,2p), and ωB97X-D/6-311++G(2df,2p) levels. The result shows that the complexes in which Na⁺ or H₂O is bonded simultaneously to the -NH and -OH groups connected to the C3 atom of DMGA are the most stable. The cooperativity and anti-cooperativity effects occur in DMGA···H₂O···DMGA and DMGA···Na⁺···H₂O, while only the cooperativities are confirmed in DMGA···Na⁺···DMGA. The cooperativity occurs in the DMGA···Na⁺···H₂O complexes without the hydration, while the anti-cooperativity occurs in those with the hydration. Furthermore, the cooperativity and anti-cooperativity in DMGA···Na⁺···H₂O are far stronger than those in DMGA···Na⁺···DMGA or DMGA···H₂O···DMGA. Therefore, a deduction is given that the cooperativity and anti-cooperativity effects play an important role in the hydration of chitin or chitosan in the presence of Na⁺. When only Na⁺ is linked with -OH and -NH groups of chitosan or chitin, due to the cooperativity effect, the hydration does not occur. When both Na⁺ and H₂O are linked with -OH and -NH groups, the anti-cooperativities are dominant in controlling of the aggregation process of Na⁺, H₂O, chitosan, and chitin, leading to the possible hydration. Atoms in molecules (AIM) analysis confirms the cooperativity and anti-cooperativity effects. Graphical abstract.

Can we trust the experiment? Anisotropic displacement parameters in 1-(halomethyl)-3-nitrobenzene (halogen = Cl or Br)

1-(Chloromethyl)-3-nitrobenzene, C7H6NClO2, and 1-(bromomethyl)-3-nitrobenzene, C7H6NBrO2, were chosen as test compounds for benchmarking anisotropic displacement parameters (ADPs) calculated from first principles in the harmonic approximation. Crystals of these compounds are isomorphous, and theory predicted similar ADPs for both. In-house diffraction experiments with Mo Kα radiation were in apparent contradiction to this theoretical result, with experimentally observed ADPs significantly larger for the bromo derivative. In contrast, the experimental and theoretical ADPs for the lighter congener matched reasonably well. As all usual quality indicators for both sets of experimental data were satisfactory, complementary diffraction experiments were performed at a synchrotron beamline with shorter wavelength. Refinements based on these intensity data gave very similar ADPs for both compounds and were thus in agreement with the earlier in-house results for the chloro derivative and the predictions of theory. We speculate that strong absorption by the heavy halogen may be the reason for the observed discrepancy.

Combined X-ray Crystallographic, IR/Raman Spectroscopic, and Periodic DFT Investigations of New Multicomponent Crystalline Forms of Anthelmintic Drugs: A Case Study of Carbendazim Maleate

Synthesis of multicomponent solid forms is an important method of modifying and fine-tuning the most critical physicochemical properties of drug compounds. The design of new multicomponent pharmaceutical materials requires reliable information about the supramolecular arrangement of molecules and detailed description of the intermolecular interactions in the crystal structure. It implies the use of a combination of different experimental and theoretical investigation methods. Organic salts present new challenges for those who develop theoretical approaches describing the structure, spectral properties, and lattice energy Elatt. These crystals consist of closed-shell organic ions interacting through relatively strong hydrogen bonds, which leads to Elatt > 200 kJ/mol. Some technical problems that a user of periodic (solid-state) density functional theory (DFT) programs encounters when calculating the properties of these crystals still remain unsolved, for example, the influence of cell parameter optimization on the Elatt value, wave numbers, relative intensity of Raman-active vibrations in the low-frequency region, etc. In this work, various properties of a new two-component carbendazim maleate crystal were experimentally investigated, and the applicability of different DFT functionals and empirical Grimme corrections to the description of the obtained structural and spectroscopic properties was tested. Based on this, practical recommendations were developed for further theoretical studies of multicomponent organic pharmaceutical crystals.

Vibrational Dynamics of Crystalline 4-Phenylbenzaldehyde from INS Spectra and Periodic DFT Calculations

The present work emphasizes the value of periodic density functional theory (DFT) calculations in the assessment of the vibrational spectra of molecular crystals. Periodic calculations provide a nearly one-to-one match between the calculated and observed bands in the inelastic neutron scattering (INS) spectrum of crystalline 4-phenylbenzaldehyde, thus validating their assignment and correcting previous reports based on single molecule calculations. The calculations allow the unambiguous assignment of the phenyl torsional mode at ca. 118-128 cm-1, from which a phenyl torsional barrier of ca. 4000 cm-1 is derived, and the identification of the collective mode involving the antitranslational motion of CH···O bonded pairs, a hallmark vibrational mode of systems where C-H···O contacts are an important feature.

Cooperativity of hydrogen bonds in the nitroamide crystal: a prototypical case study of low-sensitivity and high-energy explosives

The cooperativity of hydrogen-bond interactions in explosive crystals was revealed computationally.

Interplay of π-stacking and inter-stacking interactions in two-component crystals of neutral closed-shell aromatic compounds: periodic DFT study

This paper bridges the gap between high-level ab initio computations of gas-phase models of 1 : 1 arene–arene complexes and calculations of the two-component (binary) organic crystals using atom–atom potentials. The studied crystals consist of electron-rich and electron-deficient compounds, which form infinite stacks (columns) of heterodimers. The sublimation enthalpy of crystals has been evaluated by DFT periodic calculations, while intermolecular interactions have been characterized by Bader analysis of the periodic electronic density. The consideration of aromatic compounds without a dipole moment makes it possible to reveal the contribution of quadrupole–quadrupole interactions to the π-stacking energy. These interactions are significant for heterodimers formed by arenes with more than 2 rings, with absolute values of the traceless quadrupole moment (Q_zz) larger than 10 D Å. The further aggregation of neighboring stacks is due to the C–H⋯F interactions in arene/perfluoroarene crystals. In crystals consisting of arene and an electron-deficient compound such as pyromellitic dianhydride, aggregation occurs due to the C–H⋯O interactions. The C–H⋯F and C–H⋯O inter-stacking interactions make the main contribution to the sublimation enthalpy, which exceeds 150 kJ mol⁻¹ for the two-component crystals formed by arenes with more than 2 rings.

The interplay of π-stacking and inter-stacking interactions in two-component organic crystals without conventional hydrogen bonds.

Intermolecular Interactions in Molecular Organic Crystals upon Relaxation of Lattice Parameters

Crystal structure prediction is based on the assumption that the most thermodynamically stable structure will crystallize first. The existence of other structures such as polymorphs or from counterenantiomers requires an accurate calculation of the electronic energy. Using atom-centered Gaussian basis functions in periodic Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations in Turbomole, the performance of two dispersion-corrected functionals, PBE-D3 and B97-D, is assessed for molecular organic crystals of the X23 benchmark set. B97-D shows a MAE (mean absolute error) of 4 kJ/mol, compared to 9 kJ/mol for PBE-D3. A strategy for the convergence of lattice energies towards the basis set limit is outlined. A simultaneous minimization of molecular structures and lattice parameters shows that both methods are able to reproduce experimental unit cell parameters to within 4–5%. Calculated lattice energies, however, deviate slightly more from the experiment, i.e., by 0.4 kJ/mol after unit cell optimization for PBE-D3 and 0.5 kJ/mol for B97-D. The accuracy of the calculated lattice energies compared to the experimental values demonstrates the ability of current DFT methods to assist in the quest for possible polymorphs and enantioselective crystallization processes.

Cohesive properties of the crystalline phases of twenty proteinogenic α-aminoacids from first-principles calculations

Cohesive properties (lattice and cohesive energy of the crystal and corresponding sublimation enthalpy) of the complete set of twenty enantiopure anhydrous proteinogenic amino acids are investigated using first-principles calculations. In contrast to neutral amino acid molecules in the vapor phase, all amino acids form crystals in their zwitterionic form. Therefore, reliable ab initio calculations of the proton transfer energy are an indispensable step of such calculations. Simplifying procedures, designed to rationalize the computational cost of the quasi-harmonic approximation, which proves too demanding if performed fully at the given quantum level of theory, are presented and tested. For this purpose, atomic multipoles (up to the quadrupoles) for the amoeba force field are parametrized for all amino acid zwitterions. While the calculated lattice energies of the amino acids range from 235-458 kJ mol-1 in absolute value, the proton transfer energies typically amount to 100-220 kJ mol-1, which translates to sublimation enthalpies ranging from 117-202 kJ mol-1, appreciably exceeding the sublimation enthalpy values common for nonionic molecular crystals. Critically assessed experimental data on sublimation enthalpies are used as a benchmark for comparison of the data calculated in this work. Cohesive properties of most amino acids calculated in this work, combining the PBE-D3(BJ)/PAW and CCSD(T)-F12/aug-cc-pVDZ levels of theory used for predictions of the lattice energies and of the proton transfer energies, respectively, exhibit a reasonable agreement with the experiment. At the same time, this work contains the first published data on cohesive properties for several enantiopure amino acids.

The many flavours of halogen bonds - message from experimental electron density and Raman spectroscopy

Experimental electron-density studies based on high-resolution diffraction experiments allow halogen bonds between heavy halogens to be classified. The topological properties of the electron density in Cl...Cl contacts vary smoothly as a function of the interaction distance. The situation is less straightforward for halogen bonds between iodine and small electronegative nucleophiles, such as nitrogen or oxygen, where the electron density in the bond critical point does not simply increase for shorter distances. The number of successful charge-density studies involving iodine is small, but at least individual examples for three cases have been observed. (a) Very short halogen bonds between electron-rich nucleophiles and heavy halogen atoms resemble three-centre-four-electron bonds, with a rather symmetric heavy halogen and without an appreciable σ hole. (b) For a narrow intermediate range of halogen bonds, the asymmetric electronic situation for the heavy halogen with a pronounced σ hole leads to rather low electron density in the (3,-1) critical point of the halogen bond; the properties of this bond critical point cannot fully describe the nature of the associated interaction. (c) For longer and presumably weaker contacts, the electron density in the halogen bond critical point is only to a minor extent reduced by the presence of the σ hole and hence may be higher than in the aforementioned case. In addition to the electron density and its derived properties, the halogen-carbon bond distance opposite to the σ hole and the Raman frequency for the associated vibration emerge as alternative criteria to gauge the halogen-bond strength. We find exceptionally long C-I distances for tetrafluorodiiodobenzene molecules in cocrystals with short halogen bonds and a significant red shift for their Raman vibrations.

Local-structure effects on 31P NMR chemical shift tensors in solid state

The effect of the local structure on the ³¹P NMR chemical shift tensor (CST) has been studied experimentally and simulated theoretically using the density functional theory gauge-independent-atomic-orbital approach. It has been shown that the dominating impact comes from a small number of noncovalent interactions between the phosphorus-containing group under question and the atoms of adjacent molecules. These interactions can be unambiguously identified using the Bader analysis of the electronic density. A robust and computationally effective approach designed to attribute a given experimental ³¹P CST to a certain local morphology has been elaborated. This approach can be useful in studies of surfaces, complex molecular systems, and amorphous materials.

Role of H-Optimization in the Computed Intermolecular Interactions and Charge-Transfer Integrals in Diketopyrrolopyrroles

Small organic conjugated systems displaying one-dimensional stacking motifs in the solid state that facilitate charge propagation are highly desirable. Noncovalent interactions, although weak, can synergistically provide those supramolecular architectures with large binding energies and associated thermal integrity. Amongst the plethora of intermolecular interactions contributing toward the overall lattice energy and stability of the charge-propagation supramolecular architectures, H-bonding interactions are well-known to play a pivotal role. Despite their critical contribution, the positions of hydrogen atoms in X-ray crystallographic data are parameterized, which can lead to significant changes in the computed intermolecular interactions. Herein, we report for the first time an analysis of the role that the optimization of the H atoms in X-ray structures has in the computed intermolecular interactions energies in diketopyrrolopyrroles (DPPs). A large dataset comprising 94 dimer pairs from 19 different DPP-based systems, including three pigment analogues, was employed. In total, more than 1400 H-X chemical bonds were considered and optimized using the M06-2X density functional at the 6-311G(d) level. Intermolecular interactions were computed for the H-optimized geometries and compared to those from nonoptimized counterparts. We report that in 35 out of the 94 dimer pairs investigated (37%), the computed intermolecular interactions were at least 2.5 kJ mol^-1 larger on progression to the H-optimized geometries. In turn, lower computed values were yielded upon H-optimization computed for 8 out of the 94 dimer pairs (8%), with one case exhibiting a difference greater than 2.5 kJ mol^-1. In line with the negligible changes to electron density and wavefunction overlap, the computed changes on the transfer integrals for the hole and electron were always lower than 1 kJ mol^-1. The observed changes to computed intermolecular interactions can play a critical role in determining the thermal integrity of the supramolecular structures and charge propagation channels, and thus in the absence of neutron diffraction data, H atoms should be optimized prior to computation. We envisage that the results herein will be of interest to the extensive scientific community devoted to the understanding of intermolecular interactions in organic conjugated systems and the realization of superior charge-transfer-mediating materials, and given the plethora of intermolecular interactions investigated, the results are not solely limited to DPP-based architectures.

Ammonothermal Synthesis, X-Ray and Time-of-Flight Neutron Crystal-Structure Determination, and Vibrational Properties of Barium Guanidinate, Ba(CN3H4)2

We report the crystal structure of Ba(CN3H4)2 as synthesized from liquid ammonia. Structure solution based on X-ray diffraction data suffers from a severe pseudo-tetragonal problem due to extreme scattering contrast, so the true monoclinic symmetry is detectable only from neutron powder diffraction patterns, and structure solution and refinement was greatly aided by density-functional theory. The symmetry lowering is due to slight deviations of the guanidinate anion from the mirror plane in space group P 4 ‾ b2, a necessity of hydrogen bonding. At 300 K, barium guanidinate crystallizes in P21/c with a=6.26439(2) Å, b=16.58527(5) Å, c=6.25960(2) Å, and a monoclinic angle of β=90.000(1)°. To improve the data-to-parameter ratio, anisotropic displacement parameters from first-principles theory were incorporated in the neutron refinement. Given the correct structural model, the positional parameters of the heavy atoms were also refinable from X-ray diffraction of a twinned crystal. The two independent guanidinate anions adopt the all-trans- and the anti-shape. The Ba cation is coordinated by eight imino nitrogens in a square antiprism with Ba-N contacts between 2.81 and 3.04 Å. The IR and Raman spectra of barium guanidinate were compared with DFT-calculated phonon spectra to identify the vibrational modes.

A new tool for validating theoretically derived anisotropic displacement parameters with experiment: directionality of prolate displacement ellipsoids

How well do anisotropic displacement parameters from theory match experiment? The orientation of prolate ellipsoids contributes to the answer!

Towards reliable ab initio sublimation pressures for organic molecular crystals - are we there yet?

Knowledge of molecular crystal sublimation equilibrium data is vital in many industrial processes, but this data can be difficult to measure experimentally for low-volatility species. Theoretical prediction of sublimation pressures could provide a useful supplement to experiment, but the exponential temperature dependence of sublimation (or any saturated vapor) pressure curve makes this challenging. An uncertainty of only a few percent in the sublimation enthalpy or entropy can propagate to an error in the sublimation pressure exceeding several orders of magnitude for a given temperature interval. Despite this fundamental difficulty, this paper performs some of the first ab initio predictions of sublimation pressure curves. Four simple molecular crystals (ethane, methanol, benzene, and imidazole) have been selected for a case study showing the currently achievable accuracy of quantum chemistry calculations. Fragment-based ab initio techniques and the quasi-harmonic approximation are used for calculations of cohesive and phonon properties of the crystals, while the vapor phase is treated by the ideal gas model. Ab initio sublimation pressure curves for model compounds are compared against their experimental counterparts. The computational uncertainties are estimated, weak points of the computational methodology are identified, and further improvements are proposed.

Solving the enigma of weak fluorine contacts in the solid state: a periodic DFT study of fluorinated organic crystals

The nature and strength of weak interactions with organic fluorine in the solid state are revealed by periodic density functional theory (periodic DFT) calculations coupled with experimental data on the structure and sublimation thermodynamics of crystalline organofluorine compounds. To minimize other intermolecular interactions, several sets of crystals of perfluorinated and partially fluorinated organic molecules are considered. This allows us to establish the theoretical levels providing an adequate description of the metric and electron-density parameters of the C–F⋯F–C interactions and the sublimation enthalpy of crystalline perfluorinated compounds. A detailed comparison of the C–F⋯F–C and C–H⋯F–C interactions is performed using the relaxed molecular geometry in the studied crystals. The change in the crystalline packing of aromatic compounds during their partial fluorination points to the structure-directing role of C–H⋯F–C interactions due to the dominant electrostatic contribution to these contacts. C–H⋯F–C and C–H⋯O interactions are found to be identical in nature and comparable in energy. The factors that determine the contribution of these interactions to the crystal packing are revealed. The reliability of the results is confirmed by considering the superposition of the electrostatic potential and electron density gradient fields in the area of the investigated intermolecular interactions.

The nature and strength of weak C–H⋯F–C and C–F⋯F–C interactions and their role in organofluorine molecular crystals were studied using periodic DFT coupled with CSD data mining and experimental sublimation enthalpies.

Short is strong: experimental electron density in a very short N···I halogen bond

2,3,5,6-Tetrafluoro-1,4-diiodobenzene and 4-(dimethylamino)pyridine co-crystallize in 1:2 stoichiometry. A diffraction experiment at standard resolution was already conducted in 2010 and revealed one of the shortest N···I contacts ever reported. We collected X-ray intensities at 100 K up to a very high resolution of 1.23 Å−1. These experimental data allowed to refine a structure model based on atom-centered multipoles according to the Hansen-Coppens approach and provided an experimental electron density. A subsequent analysis with the help of Bader’s atoms in molecules theory showed a strong interaction between the pyridine N atom and the σ hole of its closest iodine neighbor on the halogenated benzene. This contact is characterized by a distance of 2.6622(4) Å and associated with a remarkably large electron density of 0.359(5) e⋅Å−3 in the (3, −1) critical point, unprecedented for a secondary interaction. This bona fide shortest halogen bond ever investigated by an experimental charge density study is associated with a significantly negative total energy density in the bond critical point and thus can reliably be classified as strong. Both the electron density and the position of the bond critical point suggest to compare the short N···I contact to coordinative or covalent bonds rather than to σ hole interactions.

Lattice thermal expansion and anisotropic displacements in urea, bromomalonic aldehyde, pentachloropyridine, and naphthalene

Anisotropic displacement parameters (ADPs) are commonly used in crystallography, chemistry, and related fields to describe and quantify thermal motion of atoms. Within the very recent years, these ADPs have become predictable by lattice dynamics in combination with first-principles theory. Here, we study four very different molecular crystals, namely, urea, bromomalonic aldehyde, pentachloropyridine, and naphthalene, by first-principles theory to assess the quality of ADPs calculated in the quasi-harmonic approximation. In addition, we predict both the thermal expansion and thermal motion within the quasi-harmonic approximation and compare the predictions with the experimental data. Very reliable ADPs are calculated within the quasi-harmonic approximation for all four cases up to at least 200 K, and they turn out to be in better agreement with the experiment than those calculated within the harmonic approximation. In one particular case, ADPs can even reliably be predicted up to room temperature. Our results also hint at the importance of normal-mode anharmonicity in the calculation of ADPs.

Ab initio thermodynamic properties and their uncertainties for crystalline α-methanol

To investigate the performance of quasi-harmonic electronic structure methods for modeling molecular crystals at finite temperatures and pressures, thermodynamic properties are calculated for the low-temperature α polymorph of crystalline methanol and their computational uncertainties are analyzed.