Pressure Tuning between NH···N Hydrogen-Bonded Ice Analogue and NH···Br Polar dabcoHBr Complexes

The curious case of proton migration under pressure in the malonic acid and 4,4'-bipyridine cocrystal

In the search for new active pharmaceutical ingredients, the precise control of the chemistry of cocrystals becomes essential. One crucial step within this chemistry is proton migration between cocrystal coformers to form a salt, usually anticipated by the empirical ΔpKa rule. Due to the effective role it plays in modifying intermolecular distances and interactions, pressure adds a new dimension to the ΔpKa rule. Still, this variable has been scarcely applied to induce proton-transfer reactions within these systems. In our study, high-pressure X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy experiments, supported by DFT calculations, reveal modifications to the protonation states of the 4,4'-bipyridine (BIPY) and malonic acid (MA) cocrystal (BIPYMA) that allow the conversion of the cocrystal phase into ionic salt polymorphs. On compression, neutral BIPYMA and monoprotonated (BIPYH+MA-) species coexist up to 3.1 GPa, where a phase transition to a structure of P21/c symmetry occurs, induced by a double proton-transfer reaction forming BIPYH22+MA2-. The low-pressure C2/c phase is recovered at 2.4 GPa on decompression, leading to a 0.7 GPa hysteresis pressure range. This is one of a few studies on proton transfer in multicomponent crystals that shows how susceptible the interconversion between differently charged species is to even slight pressure changes, and how the proton transfer can be a triggering factor leading to changes in the crystal symmetry. These new data, coupled with information from previous reports on proton-transfer reactions between coformers, extend the applicability of the ΔpKa rule incorporating the pressure required to induce salt formation.

Ab Initio Study of H-Bond Dynamics in Three-Component Crystals Comprising (DABCOH+ )n Polycationic Chains

In this work, the dynamic character of hydrogen-bond (H-bond) networks in two three-component crystals comprising polycationic chains was described. The first studied system was 1,4-diazabicyclo[2.2.2]octan-1-ium (DABCOH⁺ ) sulfamate monohydrate, known for its large negative linear compressibility. The second analyzed material was the newly obtained polar salt co-crystal: 1,4-diazabicyclo[2.2.2]octan-1-ium sulfamate urea. X-ray diffraction measurements enabled us to study the H-bond systems in both crystals using the graph set analysis. Obtained structures served as the initial models for Born-Oppenheimer molecular dynamics computations. A detailed study of intermolecular interactions and power spectra was conducted. The analysis of time and space correlations between the changes in H-bonds enabled the detection of proton transfer occurring in both systems at 300 K. Further study of those dynamic phenomena was done using the Energy Decomposition Analysis for selected trajectory fragments. Our work should improve the understanding of dielectric and ferroelectric properties of hybrid organic-inorganic materials.

Metal-free enantiomorphic perovskite [dabcoH2]2+[H3O]+Br- 3 and its one-dimensional polar polymorph

The structure and stoichiometry of a new metal-free and ammonium-free compound [dabcoH₂]²⁺H₃O⁺Br^- ₃ (where [dabcoH₂]²⁺ = 1,4-di-aza-bicyclo-[2.2.2]octane dication) correspond to the general formula ABX ₃ characteristic of perovskites. In enantiomorphic trigonal polymorph α of [dabcoH₂]²⁺H₃O⁺Br^- ₃, the corner-sharing [H₃O]Br₆ octahedra combine into a 3D framework embedding [dabcoH₂]²⁺ dications in pseudo-cubic cages. In the more dense polymorph β, the face-sharing [H₃O]Br₆ octahedra form 1D polyanionic columns separated by [dabcoH₂]²⁺ dications. These different topologies correlate with different crystal fields around the cations and their different disorder types: orientational disorders of [dabcoH₂]²⁺ dications and H₃O⁺ cations in polymorph α and positional disorder of [H₃O]⁺ cations in polymorph β. The orientational disorder increases the lengths of OH⋯Br hydrogen bonds in polymorph α, but NH⋯Br distances of ordered dabcoH₂ dications are longer in polymorph β. The presence of polar [H₃O]⁺ cations in [dabcoH₂]²⁺H₃O⁺Br^- ₃ polymorphs offers additional polarizability of the centres compared with analogous metal-free [dabcoH₂]²⁺[NH₄]⁺Br^- ₃ perovskite.

Two-step dielectric anomalies coupled with structural phase transitions in a co-crystal of 1,4-diazabicyclo[2.2.2]octane and 4,4′-biphenol

Two-step dielectric anomalies appear in co-crystal of 1,4-diazabicyclo[2.2.2]octane (DABCO) and 4,4′-biphenol which are coupled with structural phase transitions related to the disorder–order transformation of DABCO molecules.

High-pressure crystallography

Since the late 1950's, high-pressure structural studies have become increasingly frequent, following the inception of opposed-anvil cells, development of efficient diffractometric equipment (brighter radiation sources both in laboratories and in synchrotron facilities, highly efficient area detectors) and procedures (for crystal mounting, centring, pressure calibration, collecting and correcting data). Consequently, during the last decades, high-pressure crystallography has evolved into a powerful technique which can be routinely applied in laboratories and dedicated synchrotron and neutron facilities. The variation of pressure adds a new thermodynamic dimension to crystal-structure analyses, and extends the understanding of the solid state and materials in general. New areas of thermodynamic exploration of phase diagrams, polymorphism, transformations between different phases and cohesion forces, structure-property relations, and a deeper understanding of matter at the atomic scale in general are accessible with the high-pressure techniques in hand. A brief history, guidelines and requirements for performing high-pressure structural studies are outlined.

High-pressure diffraction studies of molecular organic solids. A personal view

This paper discusses the trends in the experimental studies of molecular organic solids at high pressures by diffraction techniques. Crystallization of liquids, crystallization from solutions and solid-state transformations are considered. Special attention is paid to the high-pressure studies of pharmaceuticals and of biomimetics.

Disproportionation of Pyrazine in NH+···N Hydrogen-Bonded Complexes: New Materials of Exceptional Dielectric Response

Centrosymmetric pyrazinium NH+...N bonded complexes allow their dielectric properties to be analyzed separately from the bulk ferroelectric polarization observed in the noncentrosymmetric DABCO monosalts. The method of dielectric permittivity measurements has been employed for monitoring polarization fluctuations generated by proton transfers in the NH+...N bonded linear polycations. The revealed dielectric response of [C4H5N2]+BF4- and [C4H5N2]+ClO4- cannot be reconciled with the centrosymmetric symmetry of their structures, but suggests formation of polar defects or nanoregions. Unique transformations of the pyrazine [C4H5N2]+BF4- complex between linear NH+...N hydrogen-bonded polycationic aggregates antiparallel in phase gamma, perpendicular chains in phase beta, and with NH+...N bonds broken in phase alpha have been observed. The [C4H5N2]+ClO4- and [C4H5N2]+BF4- complexes as grown at 290 K are isostructural in orthorhombic phase , space group Pbcm, with linear polycationic chains arranged antiparallel. On heating, the tetrafluoroborate and perchlorate salts each undergoes two first-order phase transitions at similar temperatures about 340-360 K, while on cooling only one phase transition has been observed. An extremely unique sequence of two phase transitions subsequently lowering the symmetry of the [C4H5N2]+BF4- crystal when temperature is increased has been evidenced: the orthorhombic phase heated above 343 K transforms into the monoclinic C2/c-symmetric phase beta, in which the NH+...N bonded linear chains assume perpendicular arrangement; and at about 353-357 K the anions and cations adopt a typical ionic-crystal packing without homonuclear NH+...N hydrogen bonds in a still lower-symmetry monoclinic P21/n-symmetric structure. The exceptional perpendicular arrangement of the linear NH+...N bonded chains in phase beta constitutes a unique system where polarization of small regions can assume various orientations within a plane, depending on the H+ sites. No phase transitions or anomalous dielectric response were observed in the NH+...O bonded [C4H5N2]+NO3- complex. The unprecedented structure-property relations of the pyrazinium complexes fully confirm the role of the NH+...N bond transformations for the dielectric response of analogous DABCO ferroelectrics.