Interplay between the static ordering and dynamical heterogeneities determining the dynamics of rotation and ordinary liquid phases in 1,6-anhydro-β-D-glucose

The impact of chemical structure on the formation of the medium-range order and dynamical properties of selected antifungal APIs

In this paper, we have analyzed structural, thermal, and dynamical properties of four azole antifungals: itraconazole (ITZ), posaconazole (POS), terconazole (TER) and ketoconazole (KET), differing mainly in the length of the rod-like backbone and slightly in side groups. Our investigations clearly demonstrated that the changes in the chemical structure result in a different ability to form the medium-range order (MRO) and variation in thermal and dynamical properties of these pharmaceuticals. Direct comparison of the diffractograms collected for glassy and crystalline materials indicated that the MRO observed in the former phases is related to maintaining the local molecular arrangement of the crystal structure. Moreover, it was shown that once the MRO-related diffraction peaks appear, additional mobility (δ- or α' relaxation), slower than the structural (α)-process, is also detected in dielectric spectra. This new mode is connected to the motions within supramolecular nanoaggregates. Detailed analysis of dielectric and calorimetric data also revealed that the variation in the internal structure and MRO of the examined pharmaceuticals have an impact on the glass transition temperature (Tg) shape of the α-process, isobaric fragility, molecular dynamics in the glassy state and number of dynamically correlated molecules. These findings could be helpful in an understanding the influence of different types of intermolecular MRO on the properties of substances having a similar chemical backbone.

Cooperativity in plastic crystals

A statistical mechanical model previously adopted for the analysis of the α-relaxation in structural glass formers is rederived within a general theoretical framework originally developed for systems approaching the ideal glassy state. The interplay between nonexponentiality and cooperativity is reconsidered in the light of energy landscape concepts. The method is used to estimate the cooperativity in orientationally disordered crystals, either from the analysis of literature data on linear dielectric response or from the enthalpy relaxation function obtained by temperature-modulated calorimetry. Knowledge of the specific heat step due to the freezing of the configurational or conformational modes at the glass transition is needed in order to properly account for the extent to which the relaxing system deviates from equilibrium during the rearrangement processes. A number of plastic crystals have been analyzed, and relatively higher cooperativities are found in the presence of hydrogen bonding interaction.

Anhydrosaccharides-A new class of the fragile plastic crystals

In this paper, 1,6-anhydro-β-D-glucopyranose (anhGLU), 1,6-anhydro-β-D-mannopyranose (anhMAN), and 1,6-anhydro-β-D-galactopyranose (anhGAL), three new materials that form the Orientationally Disordered Crystal (ODIC) phase, have been thoroughly investigated using various experimental techniques. All measurements clearly indicated that these compounds possess a series of very interesting physical properties that are considerably different than those reported for ordinary plastic crystals. X-Ray diffraction investigations have revealed enormously long-range static correlations between molecules, reaching even 120 Å. Moreover, dielectric studies showed that besides Freon 113, the investigated anhydrosaccharides are the most fragile systems that form the ODIC phase. Further analysis of Fourier transform infrared spectra indicated that such peculiar behavior of anhydrosaccharides might be closely related to multidirectional H-bonds of various strengths that most likely affect the number of available conformations, density states, and the potential barriers in the energy landscape of these compounds. This is consistent with the results from previous reports [L. C. Pardo, J. Chem. Phys. 124, 124911 (2006) and Th. Bauer et al., J Chem. Phys. 133, 144509 (2010)] showing that the higher fragility of Freon 112 as well as a mixture of 60% succinonitrile and 40% glutaronitrile (60SN-40GN) can be closely related to the enhanced conformational ability and additional disorder introduced by various substituents, which further make energy landscape more complex. Finally, by studying the properties of 2,3,4-tri-O-acetyl-1,6-anhydro-β-D-glucopyranose (ac-anhGLU) it was found that besides the shape of the molecules, H-bonds or generally strong intermolecular interactions are extremely important parameters contributing to the ability to form the plastic phase. This is in line with current observations that in most cases the ODIC phase is created in highly interacting compounds.