Orientational isomerisation of guest molecules in equilibrium in a tubular host crystal formed via halogen and hydrogen bonding

Fine-tuning of the ratio of two different states is important in controlling the structures and functions of crystalline materials. Here we report that clathrated guest molecules inside a tubular host...

Conformational polymorphs of isotretinoin and their impact on physicochemical and biological properties

Isotretinoin is the first-line drug for treatment of severe acne. Only one polymorph was reported even though it has been launched for nearly 40 years, and its clinic application was however limited by its stability and solubility challenges. In our study, two new polymorphs of isotretinoin were discovered and fully characterized. The transformation relationships between these solid forms were fully discussed, and a visible color change during single-crystal-to-single-crystal phase transition with the conformational change was investigated. Form II is determined to be thermodynamic stable form at room temperature, but metastable form at body temperature. The results show that form II is an ideal solid state possessing both superior thermal stability (60℃, open air) and higher absorption once delivered into body. The thermal stability can be associated with the crystal structure such as torsion angle. The relative bioavailability of form II is higher than form I as expected, and the bioavailability of form II formulation is about 2 times as that of the marketed form I capsule. Therefore, form II formulation could provide an alternative for better performing isotretinoin.

Crystal Structures and Fluorescence Spectroscopic Properties of a Series of α,ω-Di(4-pyridyl)polyenes: Effect of Aggregation-Induced Emission

Crystal structures and fluorescence spectroscopic properties were investigated for a series of all-(E) α,ω-di(4-pyridyl)polyenes (1-5) with different number of double bonds (n). Molecules 1 and 2 (n=1, 2) in crystals are arranged to form partially π-overlapped structures, whereas those of 3-5 (n=3-5) are stacked in a herringbone fashion. All these molecules, the shorter polyenes in particular, are almost nonfluorescent in solution. In the solid state, 1 and 2 are highly emissive as pure organic solids [fluorescence quantum yields (φ_f )=0.3-0.5], while 3 and 4 are only weakly fluorescent (φ_f <0.05). The strongly n-dependent fluorescence properties can be attributed to the largely different molecular arrangements in the crystals. Although 5 is nonfluorescent in the solid state, we observe a very clear structure-property relationship in 1-4. Compounds 1 and 2 become much more emissive in the solid state than in solution as a result of the aggregation-induced emission (AIE) effect.

Rotation of a helical coordination polymer by mechanical grinding

Anisotropic cell volume expansion by mechanical grinding of the solid facilitates the concerted rotation of the photo-inert helical coordination polymer, which causes the misaligned arms containing olefin functional groups in the neighbouring strands to align to undergo [2+2] cycloaddition reaction in 83% yield.

Molecular motion, dielectric response, and phase transition of charge-transfer crystals: acquired dynamic and dielectric properties of polar molecules in crystals

Molecules in crystals often suffer from severe limitations on their dynamic processes, especially on those involving large structural changes. Crystalline compounds, therefore, usually fail to realize their potential as dielectric materials even when they have large dipole moments. To enable polar molecules to undergo dynamic processes and to provide their crystals with dielectric properties, weakly bound charge-transfer (CT) complex crystals have been exploited as a molecular architecture where the constituent polar molecules have some freedom of dynamic processes, which contribute to the dielectric properties of the crystals. Several CT crystals of polar tetrabromophthalic anhydride (TBPA) molecules were prepared using TBPA as an electron acceptor and aromatic hydrocarbons, such as coronene and perylene, as electron donors. The crystal structures and dielectric properties of the CT crystals as well as the single-component crystal of TBPA were investigated at various temperatures. Molecular reorientation of TBPA molecules did not occur in the single-component crystal, and the crystal did not show a dielectric response due to orientational polarization. We have found that the CT crystal formation provides a simple and versatile method to develop molecular dielectrics, revealing that the molecular dynamics of the TBPA molecules and the dielectric property of their crystals were greatly changed in CT crystals. The TBPA molecules underwent rapid in-plane reorientations in their CT crystals, which exhibited marked dielectric responses arising from the molecular motion. An order-disorder phase transition was observed for one of the CT crystals, which resulted in an abrupt change in the dielectric constant at the transition temperature.