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The simple planar molecule acridine is polymorphically promiscuous, with, at latest count, eight distinct unsolvated forms, and one hydrate. This makes it a compelling model system to study its pol...

Olanzapine is a polymorphic drug molecule that has been extensively studied, with over 60 structures reported in the Cambridge Structural Database. All anhydrous and solvated forms of olanzapine known to date contain the SC0 dimer packing motif. In this study, a new screening approach was adopted involving heat-induced forced crystallization from a polymer-based molecular dispersion of olanzapine. Simultaneous differential scanning calorimetry–powder X-ray diffraction was used to heat the amorphous dispersion and to identify a novel physical form from diffraction and heat flow data. Comparison of the diffraction data with those from a computed crystal energy landscape allowed the crystal structure to be determined. The result was the discovery of a new polymorph, form IV, which does not use the SC0 motif. Hence, while dimer formation is the dominant process that defines crystal packing for olanzapine formed from solution, it seems that molecularly dispersing the drug in a polymeric matrix permits crystall...

The control of the crystal form is a central issue in the pharmaceutical industry. The identification of putative polymorphs through Crystal Structure Prediction (CSP) methods is based on lattice energy calculations, which are known to significantly over-predict the number of plausible crystal structures. A valuable tool to reduce overprediction is to employ physics-based, dynamic simulations to coalesce lattice energy minima separated by small barriers into a smaller number of more stable geometries once thermal effects are introduced. Molecular dynamics simulations and enhanced sampling methods can be employed in this context to simulate crystal structures at finite temperature and pressure. Here we demonstrate the applicability of approaches based on molecular dynamics to systematically process realistic CSP datasets containing several hundreds of crystal structures. The system investigated is ibuprofen, a conformationally flexible active pharmaceutical ingredient that crystallises both in enantiopure forms and as a racemic mixture. By introducing a hierarchical approach in the analysis of finite-temperature supercell configurations, we can post-process a dataset of 555 crystal structures, identifying 65% of the initial structures as labile, while maintaining all the experimentally known crystal structures in the final, reduced set. Moreover, the extensive nature of the initial dataset allows one to gain quantitative insight into the persistence and the propensity to transform of crystal structures containing common hydrogen-bonded intermolecular interaction motifs.

Crystal structure prediction methods are prone to overestimate the number of potential polymorphs of organic molecules. In this work, we aim to reduce the overprediction by systematically applying molecular dynamics simulations and biased sampling methods to cluster subsets of structures that can easily interconvert at finite temperature and pressure. Following this approach, we rationally reduce the number of predicted putative polymorphs in CSP-generated crystal energy landscapes. This uses an unsupervised clustering approach to analyze independent finite-temperature molecular dynamics trajectories and hence identify a representative structure of each cluster of distinct lattice energy minima that are effectively equivalent at finite temperature and pressure. Biased simulations are used to reduce the impact of limited sampling time and to estimate the work associated with polymorphic transformations. We demonstrate the proposed systematic approach by studying the polymorphs of urea and succinic acid, reducing an initial set of over 100 energetically plausible CSP structures to 12 and 27 respectively, including the experimentally known polymorphs. The simulations also indicate the types of disorder and stacking errors that may occur in real structures.

peer-reviewed Here, we show that the development of nuclei and subsequent growth of a molecular organic crystal system can be induced by electron beam irradiation by exploiting the radiation chemistry of the carrier solvent. The technique of Liquid Cell Electron Microscopy was used to probe the crystal growth of flufenamic acid; a current commercialised active pharmaceutical ingredient. This work demonstrates liquid phase electron microscopy analysis as an essential tool for assessing pharmaceutical crystal growth in their native environment while giving insight into polymorph identification of nano-crystals at their very inception. Possible mechanisms of crystal nucleation due to the electron beam with a focus on radiolysis are discussed along with the innovations this technique offers to the study of pharmaceutical crystals and other low contrast materials.

The solid form screening of galunisertib produced many solvates, prompting an extensive investigation into possible risks to the development of the favored monohydrate form. Inspired by crystal structure prediction, the search for neat polymorphs was expanded to an unusual range of experiments, including melt crystallization under pressure, to work around solvate formation and the thermal instability of the molecule. Ten polymorphs of galunisertib were found; however, the structure predicted to be the most stable has yet to be obtained. We present the crystal structures of all ten unsolvated polymorphs of galunisertib, showing how state-of-the-art characterization methods can be combined with emerging computational modeling techniques to produce a complete structure landscape and assess the risk of late-appearing, more stable polymorphs. The exceptional conformational polymorphism of this prolific solvate former invites further development of methods, computational and experimental, that are applicable to larger, flexible molecules with complex solid form landscapes.

Structures of two very similar polymorphic forms of 2-chlorobenzamide have been obtained at low temperature. The metastable α-form is very susceptible to grinding, a property not initially realized considering the polymorphs have been reported in the literature for many years. Systematic milling studies have been carried out in a search for other polymorphic forms and to assess the rate of any polymorphic change(s). No new polymorphs were found, though a computational search for low energy structures suggested a complex crystal-energy landscape. An experimental polymorph screen was also carried out.

A conformational polymorph (γ) of succinic acid was discovered in an attempt to purify a leucine dipeptide by cocrystallization from a methanol solution in the presence of various impurities, such as trifluoroacetic acid. The new γ-form was found to have crystallized concomitantly with the most stable β form. In light of this situation, a crystal structure prediction study was undertaken to examine the polymorph landscape. These studies reveal that the γ polymorph is thermodynamically competitive with the other observed polymorphs; having a more stable folded conformation than the planar crystalline conformation in the β form, but being stabilized less by the intermolecular interactions. Simulations and experiment show that the folded conformation is dominant in solution, but that trapping long-lived crystals of the new metastable polymorph may be challenging. Thus the γ polymorph provides a stringent test of theories for predicting which thermodynamically plausible structures may be practically important polymorphs.

Almost twenty years after the crystal polymorphism of tazofelone was first studied at Lilly, the compound was revisited by calculating the crystal energy landscape and complementing the calculations with experimental work for calibration purposes. The crystal structure prediction study confirmed the stability of racemic form II (RCII) and showed that the racemic compound had greater potential for polymorphism than the single enantiomer. The seeding experiment that has previously been shown to produce a racemic solid solution (SS) correlates with the isostructurality between some low energy racemic structures and the enantiopure form. Other low energy structures have the same layer structure as both racemic polymorphs and the newly-discovered, but closely related, polymorph RCIII, which accounts for the difficulty in obtaining phase pure samples of the metastable RCI and RCIII and the problems of structural purity evidenced by streaked diffraction spots for RCI–III in the single crystal diffraction. This molecular picture of the problems in ensuring structural purity in the layer structure polymorphs of tazofelone not only explains the crystal dependent thermochemistry measurements of tazofelone, but also shows the value of combining a range of experimental and computational techniques to investigate the organic solid state.

Crystallization of 2-fluorophenylacetylene at room temperature using high pressure yields three different polymorphs. These have distinct supramolecular assemblies despite the only variation in the crystallization protocol employed being the rate of compression.

To evaluate how the calculation of a crystal energy landscape can be used in the solid-form screening of pharmaceuticals, a Knowledge Transfer Secondment between GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and University College London was established to carry out computational crystal structure prediction (CSP) and further guided experimentation on a molecule from GSK’s compound collection. The molecule chosen was 6-[(5-chloro-2-([(4-chloro-2-fluorophenyl)methyl]oxy)phenyl)methyl]-2-pyridinecarboxylic acid (GSK269984B) since the preliminary thermodynamic form screening had only identified one anhydrate, Form I. The calculations confirmed that Form I is the most thermodynamically stable form. The thermodynamically competitive computed structures all had very different conformations of GSK269984B, and further experiments were designed to attempt to generate these conformations in solution and hence the crystalline solid. The experimental screening generated four novel solvates which all eventually transformed to Form I, two of ...

An extensive experimental search for solid forms of the antipsychotic compound olanzapine identified 60 distinct solid forms including three nonsolvated polymorphs, 56 crystalline solvates, and an amorphous phase. XPac analysis of the 35 experimental crystal structures (30 from this work and 5 from the CSD) containing olanzapine show that they contain a specific, dispersion-bound, dimer structure which can adopt various arrangements and accommodate diverse solvents to produce structures with a similar moderate packing efficiency to form I. The crystal energy landscape confirms the inability of olanzapine to pack with an efficiency of more than 70%, explains the role of solvent in stabilizing the solvate structures, and identifies a hypothetical structural type that offers an explanation for the inability to obtain the metastable forms II and III separately. The calculations find that structures that do not contain the observed dimer are thermodynamically feasible, suggesting that kinetic effects are respo...

The sixth blind test of organic crystal structure prediction (CSP) methods has been held, with five target systems: a small nearly rigid molecule, a polymorphic former drug candidate, a chloride salt hydrate, a co-crystal and a bulky flexible molecule. This blind test has seen substantial growth in the number of participants, with the broad range of prediction methods giving a unique insight into the state of the art in the field. Significant progress has been seen in treating flexible molecules, usage of hierarchical approaches to ranking structures, the application of density-functional approximations, and the establishment of new workflows and `best practices´ for performing CSP calculations. All of the targets, apart from a single potentially disordered Z?? = 2 polymorph of the drug candidate, were predicted by at least one submission. Despite many remaining challenges, it is clear that CSP methods are becoming more applicable to a wider range of real systems, including salts, hydrates and larger flexible molecules. The results also highlight the potential for CSP calculations to complement and augment experimental studies of organic solid forms. Fil: Reilly, Anthony M.. Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre; Fil: Cooper, Richard I.. Chemistry Research Laboratory; Fil: Adjiman, Claire S.. Imperial College London; Reino Unido Fil: Bhattacharya, Saswata. Fritz Haber Institute Of The Max Planck Society; Fil: Boese, A. Daniel. Karl-franzens-universitat Graz; Austria Fil: Brandenburg, Jan Gerit. Colegio Universitario de Londres; Reino Unido. Universitat Bonn; Alemania Fil: Bygrave, Peter J.. University of Southampton; Reino Unido Fil: Bylsma, Rita. Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen; Países Bajos Fil: Campbell, Josh E.. University of Southampton; Reino Unido Fil: Car, Roberto. University of Princeton; Estados Unidos Fil: Case, David H.. University of Southampton; Reino Unido Fil: Chadha, Renu. University Institute Of Pharmaceutical Sciences India; India Fil: Cole, Jason C.. Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre; Fil: Cosburn, Katherine. University of Tulane; Estados Unidos. University of Toronto; Canadá Fil: Cuppen, Herma M.. Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen; Países Bajos Fil: Curtis, Farren. University of Tulane; Estados Unidos. University of Carnegie Mellon; Estados Unidos Fil: Day, Graeme M.. University of Southampton; Reino Unido Fil: DiStasio, Robert A.. University of Princeton; Estados Unidos. Cornell University; Estados Unidos Fil: Dzyabchenko, Alexander. Karpov Institute Of Physical Chemistry; Fil: Van Eijck, Bouke P.. University of Utrecht; Países Bajos. Utrecht University; Países Bajos Fil: Elking, Dennis M.. Openeye Scientific Software, Inc; Fil: Van Den Ende, Joost A.. Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen; Países Bajos Fil: Facelli, Julio C.. University of Utah; Estados Unidos Fil: Ferraro, Marta B.. Universidad de Buenos Aires; Argentina Fil: Fusti-Molnar, Laszlo. Openeye Scientific Software, Inc; Fil: Gatsiou, Christina-Anna. Imperial College London; Reino Unido Fil: Gee, Thomas S.. University of Southampton; Reino Unido Fil: De Gelder, René. Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen; Países Bajos Fil: Ghiringhelli, Luca M.. Fritz Haber Institute Of The Max Planck Society; Fil: Goto, Hitoshi. Toyohashi University Of Technology; Fil: Grimme, Stefan. Universitat Bonn; Alemania Fil: Guo, Rui. Colegio Universitario de Londres; Reino Unido Fil: Hofmann, Detlef W. M.. Flexcryst; . Polaris; Fil: Hoja, Johannes. Fritz Haber Institute Of The Max Planck Society; Fil: Hylton, Rebecca K.. Colegio Universitario de Londres; Reino Unido Fil: Iuzzolino, Luca. Colegio Universitario de Londres; Reino Unido Fil: Jankiewicz, Wojciech. University Of Silesia In Katowice; Fil: De Jong, Daniël T.. Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen; Países Bajos Fil: Kendrick, John. University Of Bradford; Fil: De Klerk, Niek J. J.. Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen; Países Bajos Fil: Ko, Hsin-Yu. University of Princeton; Estados Unidos Fil: Kuleshova, Liudmila N.. Flexcryst; Fil: Li, Xiayue. University of Tulane; Estados Unidos. Argonne National Laboratory; Estados Unidos Fil: Lohani, Sanjaya. University of Tulane; Estados Unidos Fil: Leusen, Frank J. J.. University Of Bradford; Fil: Lund, Albert M.. University of Utah; Estados Unidos. Openeye Scientific Software, Inc; Fil: Lv, Jian. Jilin University; China Fil: Ma, Yanming. Jilin University; China Fil: Marom, Noa. University of Carnegie Mellon; Estados Unidos. University of Tulane; Estados Unidos Fil: Masunov, Artëm E.. University Of Central Florida; . National Research Nuclear University Mephi; Fil: McCabe, Patrick. Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre; Fil: McMahon, David P.. University of Southampton; Reino Unido Fil: Meekes, Hugo. Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen; Países Bajos Fil: Metz, Michael P.. University Of Delaware; Fil: Misquitta, Alston J.. Queen Mary, University Of London; Fil: Mohamed, Sharmarke. Khalifa University Of Science And Technology; Fil: Monserrat, Bartomeu. Rutgers, The State University Of New Jersey; . University of Cambridge; Estados Unidos Fil: Needs, Richard J.. University of Cambridge; Estados Unidos Fil: Neumann, Marcus A.. No especifica; Fil: Nyman, Jonas. University of Southampton; Reino Unido Fil: Obata, Shigeaki. Toyohashi University Of Technology; Fil: Oberhofer, Harald. Universitat Technical Zu Munich; Alemania Fil: Oganov, Artem R.. Northwestern Polytechnical University; China. Skolkovo Institute Of Science And Technology; . Moscow Institute Of Physics And Technology; . Stony Brook University; Fil: Orendt, Anita M.. University of Utah; Estados Unidos Fil: Pagola, Gabriel Ignacio. Universidad de Buenos Aires; Argentina Fil: Pantelides, Constantinos C.. Imperial College London; Reino Unido Fil: Pickard, Chris J.. University of Cambridge; Estados Unidos. Colegio Universitario de Londres; Reino Unido Fil: Podeszwa, Rafal. University Of Silesia In Katowice; Fil: Price, Louise S.. Colegio Universitario de Londres; Reino Unido Fil: Price, Sarah L.. Colegio Universitario de Londres; Reino Unido Fil: Pulido, Angeles. University of Southampton; Reino Unido Fil: Read, Murray G.. Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre; Fil: Reuter, Karsten. Universitat Technical Zu Munich; Alemania Fil: Schneider, Elia. University of New York; Estados Unidos Fil: Schober, Christoph. Universitat Technical Zu Munich; Alemania Fil: Shields, Gregory P.. Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre; Fil: Singh, Pawanpreet. University Institute Of Pharmaceutical Sciences India; India Fil: Sugden, Isaac J.. Imperial College London; Reino Unido Fil: Szalewicz, Krzysztof. University Of Delaware; Fil: Taylor, Christopher R.. University of Southampton; Reino Unido Fil: Tkatchenko, Alexandre. University Of Luxembourg; . Fritz Haber Institute Of The Max Planck Society; Fil: Tuckerman, Mark E.. University of New York; Estados Unidos. New York University Shanghai; China. Courant Institute Of Mathematical Sciences; Fil: Vacarro, Francesca. University of Tulane; Estados Unidos. Loyola University New Orleans; Fil: Vasileiadis, Manolis. Imperial College London; Reino Unido Fil: Vazquez-Mayagoitia, Alvaro. Argonne National Laboratory; Estados Unidos Fil: Vogt, Leslie. University of New York; Estados Unidos Fil: Wang, Yanchao. Jilin University; China Fil: Watson, Rona E.. Colegio Universitario de Londres; Reino Unido Fil: De Wijs, Gilles A.. Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen; Países Bajos Fil: Yang, Jack. University of Southampton; Reino Unido Fil: Zhu, Qiang. Stony Brook University; Fil: Groom, Colin R.. Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre

The results of the fifth blind test of crystal structure prediction, which show important success with more challenging large and flexible molecules, are presented and discussed., Following on from the success of the previous crystal structure prediction blind tests (CSP1999, CSP2001, CSP2004 and CSP2007), a fifth such collaborative project (CSP2010) was organized at the Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre. A range of methodologies was used by the participating groups in order to evaluate the ability of the current computational methods to predict the crystal structures of the six organic molecules chosen as targets for this blind test. The first four targets, two rigid molecules, one semi-flexible molecule and a 1:1 salt, matched the criteria for the targets from CSP2007, while the last two targets belonged to two new challenging categories – a larger, much more flexible molecule and a hydrate with more than one polymorph. Each group submitted three predictions for each target it attempted. There was at least one successful prediction for each target, and two groups were able to successfully predict the structure of the large flexible molecule as their first place submission. The results show that while not as many groups successfully predicted the structures of the three smallest molecules as in CSP2007, there is now evidence that methodologies such as dispersion-corrected density functional theory (DFT-D) are able to reliably do so. The results also highlight the many challenges posed by more complex systems and show that there are still issues to be overcome.

The conformational behavior of oxa diaza spiro decan derivative compounds has been investigated using DFT calculations at the B3LYP/cc-pVDZ level of theory. Natural bond orbital (NBO) analysis of the total energy behavior yielded the orbital-interaction factors contributing to the conformational equilibria. The relative energies, NBO analysis and structural parameters predicted that steric and anomeric effects determine the stabilization of the axial and/or equatorial conformers. The dipole moments of the optimized systems were used to estimate the electrostatic contributions to the anomeric effect. The results of calculations indicated that the axial conformers are the most stable in all of the studied compounds. Finally, the strain energy barriers for the most stable conformers were calculated at HF/6-311G*//HF/6-311G* level of theory. Interconversion between chair and twist conformations takes place via the half-chair as transition state. The lowest calculated strain energy for this process is 42.41 kJ mol −1 .

Ab initio and density functional theory methods have been applied to investigate the molecular structures and conformational stability of keto-fructose analogues, Molecular geometries were optimized using MP2 and B3LYP levels of theory, with 6-31G* and cc-pVDZ atomic basis sets, respectively. The geometries and energies of keto-fructose analogues are analyzed and compared.The calculations indicate both chair and twist-boat conformational minima, with the chair conformer being the global minimum for all studied compounds. Moreover, the presence of the heteroatom appeared to make changes in the structural parameters and relative energy of the conformers. Furthermore, the anomeric effect was investigated by the natural bond orbital method. The computational results of this study show that some of the conformers have a hyperconjugation system which can affect their stabilities. (c) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The syntheses and X-ray structures of novel heteroleptic thiolate/dithiocarbamate derivatives (Et2NCS2)2(RS)2Sn (R = Cy, CH2CF3) have been examined and their thermal decompositions compared with those of selected tin(II) and tin(IV) dithiocarbamates. The heteroleptic species decompose to SnS by initial elimination of RSSR to afford (Et2NCS2)2Sn and subsequent loss of [Et2NC(S)]2S. In contrast, (Et2NCS2)4Sn decomposes via [(Et2NCS2)2SnS]2, whose structure has been determined, and finally to SnS2 by sequential elimination of [Et2NC(S)]2S. The two families of compounds, (R2NCS2)4Sn and (Et2NCS2)2(RS)2Sn, thus provide single-source materials for bulk SnS2 and SnS, respectively, by virtue of their differing decomposition pathways. Preliminary CVD experiments with (Et2NCS2)2(CyS)2Sn are also reported.

A series of tin unsymmetric dithiocarbamate complexes have been made from metathesis reaction of [CH3(C4H9)NSC2]Li and RnSnCl4-n; [RnSn(S2CN(C4H9)CH3)(4-n)] [n = 3, R = Me (1), Bu (2), Ph (3); n = 2, R = Me (4), Bu (5), Ph (6); n = 1, R = Me (7), Bu (8), Ph (9)]. The complexes were characterised by microanalysis, C-13, H-1 and Sn-119 NMR, Mossbauer and, in the case of 3, by X-ray diffraction, which revealed one short Sn-S [2.4631(9) Angstrom] and one long Sn-S interaction [3.084(l) Angstrom] indicative of a weakly chelating dithiocarbamate ligand. Atmospheric pressure chemical vapour deposition using I and 8 with H2S at 350-550 degreesC produced SnS and Sn2S3 films on glass substrates. The tin sulfides were analysed by Raman, EDAX, SEM and band gap measurements. Growth rates were of the order of 150 nm min(-1). (C) 2001 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.

This paper reviews the work carried out by the authors over the last three years on the deposition of tin sulphide films. Particular emphasis is placed on the design and limitations of single-source precursors for these films. Simple homoleptic thiolates Sn(SR)(4) only generate tin sulphides in combination with H2S, otherwise Sn3O4 is produced by in situ formation of Sn(0) and subsequent oxidation. This problem is overcome by the use of chelating dithiolates. The decomposition of mixed ligand (RS)(2)Sn(S2CNEt2)(2) are also described, as are the synthesis and structures of mixed metal thiolates (Ph3PP)AuSSnCy3 and PhHgSSnCy3, potential precursors for ternary tin-containing sulphides.

Novel, volatile (fluoroalkylthiolato)tin(IV) precursors have been synthesised and (CF3CH2S)4Sn used to deposit tin sulfide films under APCVD (atmospheric pressure chemical vapour deposition) conditions. H2S is, however, required as co-reactant. Films deposited at 300–400 °C are composed of sulfur-deficient SnS2, films deposited at 450 and 500 °C comprise the sesquisulfide, Sn2S3, and the films deposited at 550 or 600 °C are sulfur-deficient SnS. The structure of [CF3(CF2)5CH2CH2S]4Sn is also reported.

AACVD (aerosol-assisted chemical vapour deposition) using (PhS)(4)Sn as precursor leads to the deposition of Sn3O4 in the absence of H2S and tin sulfides when H2S is used as co-reactant. At 450 degreesC the film deposited consists of mainly SnS2 while at 500 degreesC SnS is the dominant component. The mechanism of decomposition of (PhS)(4)Sn is discussed and the structure of the precursor presented.

Aerosol-assisted chemical vapour deposition of SnS has been achieved on glass substrates from the single source precursor [Sn(SCH2CH2S)2] at 400–550 °C. In the presence of H2S the precursor produces films of SnS2 at 350 °C, Sn2S3 at 400 °C and SnS at 500 °C. The tin sulfides were analysed by Raman (SnS2 312 and 215 cm−1; Sn2S3 307, 251, 234, 183, 87, 71, 60, 52 and 36 cm−1 and SnS 288, 220, 189, 163 and 96 cm−1), EDAX, SEM and band gap measurements (SnS 1.15 eV, SnS2 2.20 eV). Growth rates were of the order of 15 nm min−1.

In a search for a mild, rapid, moderately low temperature route to the deposition of thin films of tin(II) sulfide (SnS) on glass, we have investigated the APCVD reaction of tri-n-butyltin trifluoroacetate with hydrogen sulfide at 350–600 °C under nitrogen. The films deposited over a 15 min period were shown to be SnS by X-ray diffraction, Raman microscopy, EDAX, SEM and XPS. The conditions established are attractive for the large scale, rapid production of tin(II) sulfide films.

Tin sulfide thin films have been laid down on glass substrates by APCVD of tin tetrabromide with hydrogen sulfide. The temperature of the substrate was varied over the range 250 to 600 °C. Flow rates of hydrogen sulfide into the reactor were altered from 0.6 to 1.8 dm 3 min -1 . The films were characterised by glancing-angle X-ray diffraction, Raman microscopy, EDAX and SEM. It is evident that at substrate temperatures from 250 to 450 °C tin(IV) sulfide is deposited, whereas at temperatures in excess of 550 °C tin(II) sulfide is deposited. At intermediate temperatures mixed-valent Sn 2 S 3 is formed.

Atmospheric pressure chemical vapor deposition of SnS2, Sn2S3, and SnS has been achieved onto glass substrates from the reaction of SnCl4 with H2S at 300−545 °C. The films show good uniformity and surface coverage, adherence, and a variety of colors (black, yellow, brown, and gray) dependent on deposition temperature and film thickness. Growth rates were on the order of 1−2 μm min-1. All the films were crystalline. For substrate temperatures of up to 500 °C single phase films with the hexagonal SnS2 structure (a = 3.65(1) A, c = 5.88(1) A) were formed. At 525 °C a film of mixed composition containing predominantly orthorhombic Sn2S3 (a = 8.83(1) A, b = 3.76(1) A, c = 14.03(1) A) was formed together with some SnS2. At 545 °C films with orthorhombic SnS structure (a = 4.30(1) A, b = 11.20(1) A, c = 3.99(1) A) were formed. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed a variety of different film thicknesses and morphologies, including needles, plates, and ovoids, dependent on the deposition temperature and tim...

The atmospheric pressure chemical vapor deposition (APCVD) of SnS and SnS2 films from the reaction of SnCl4 and H2S was studied. The APCVD reaction of SnCl4 and H2S produced fast growth rates of good quality chlorine-free crystalline SnS films. SnS films were formed at 545 °C, while SnS2 films were produced at lower temperatures.

A computationally assisted approach has enabled the first catemeric polymorph of carbamazepine (form V) to be selectively formed by templating the growth of carbamazepine from the vapour phase onto the surface of a crystal of dihydrocarbamazepine form II.

Crystal structure prediction for organic molecules requires both the fast assessment of thousands to millions of crystal structures and the greatest possible accuracy in their relative energies. We describe a crystal lattice simulation program, DMACRYS, emphasizing the features that make it suitable for use in crystal structure prediction for pharmaceutical molecules using accurate anisotropic atom-atom model intermolecular potentials based on the theory of intermolecular forces. DMACRYS can optimize the lattice energy of a crystal, calculate the second derivative properties, and reduce the symmetry of the spacegroup to move away from a transition state. The calculated terahertz frequency k = 0 rigid-body lattice modes and elastic tensor can be used to estimate free energies. The program uses a distributed multipole electrostatic model (Q, t = 00,...,44s) for the electrostatic fields, and can use anisotropic atom-atom repulsion models, damped isotropic dispersion up to R(-10), as well as a range of empirically fitted isotropic exp-6 atom-atom models with different definitions of atomic types. A new feature is that an accurate model for the induction energy contribution to the lattice energy has been implemented that uses atomic anisotropic dipole polarizability models (alpha, t = (10,10)...(11c,11s)) to evaluate the changes in the molecular charge density induced by the electrostatic field within the crystal. It is demonstrated, using the four polymorphs of the pharmaceutical carbamazepine C(15)H(12)N(2)O, that whilst reproducing crystal structures is relatively easy, calculating the polymorphic energy differences to the accuracy of a few kJ mol(-1) required for applications is very demanding of assumptions made in the modelling. Thus DMACRYS enables the comparison of both known and hypothetical crystal structures as an aid to the development of pharmaceuticals and other speciality organic materials, and provides a tool to develop the modelling of the intermolecular forces involved in molecular recognition processes.

Computational prediction of the crystal structures of an organic molecule requires sufficiently accurate models for the forces between the molecules to discriminate between the energies of alternative crystal structures. Such computational predictions are particularly valuable in understanding polymorphism, the ability of some molecules to crystallise in more than one structure. As methods of searching for the most energetically favourable crystal structures have been developed and applied to a wide range of organic molecules, reflecting the potential industrial utility of this emerging field of computational chemistry, it has become clear that the force-fields will have to encapsulate many subtleties of intermolecular interactions. We review the development of model potentials for crystal structure prediction and the design of molecular materials, and their role in quantitatively understanding the interplay of thermodynamics and kinetics in crystallisation.

The structures of Sn(SBut)4 and Sn(SCy)4 have been determined and adopt S4 and D2 conformations respectively; the anion [(PhS)Sn3]−, as its Ph4P+ salt, has a structure approaching Cs symmetry. In all three compounds, there are large variations in the ∠S–Sn–S within the same molecule, which have been rationalised in terms of the C–S–Sn–S–C conformations. For Sn(SR)4, the ∠S–Sn–S increases as the conformations change from trans, trans to trans, gauche and gauche, gauche, as the number of eclipsed lone pairs decreases and this rationale is shown to be applicable to a variety of A(ER)4 (A = C, Si, Ge, Sn; E = O, S, Se) and related [Mo(SR)4, Ga(SR)4−] systems. AM1 calculations have been used to model the ∠S–Sn–S magnitudes and also provide insights into the decomposition mechanisms of these and related species which are relevant to chemical vapour deposition processes.

A search of the Cambridge Structural Database for crystal structures of 5-substituted uracils shows that, although there is a recurrent motif with symmetric hydrogen bonding and interdigitation of the 5-substituent R, a range of other hydrogen bonded ribbons, sheets and three-dimensional motifs are possible. In order to try and rationalize this, we have performed a combination of experimental studies and computational searches for low energy structures for the 12 simple 5-substituted uracils with R = H, CH3, CH2CH3, CHCH2, CN, OH, NH2, NO2, F, Cl, Br and I. Crystallization experiments on these compounds yielded the first single crystal X-ray determinations of 5-ethyluracil and 5-cyanouracil, as well as low temperature redeterminations of the disordered structures of 5-chlorouracil and 5-bromouracil. The lattice energies were calculated for the known crystal structures and compared with the computed lattice energy landscape for each molecule (except R = Br and I). Although the symmetric ribbon motif often dominates the computed crystal energy landscape, all of the molecules show a variety of different hydrogen bonding structures within a small energy range (5 kJ mol−1) of the global minimum and exhibit quite a diverse range of energetically competitive motifs. Thus, the range of crystallization outcomes, from polymorphism and other multiple forms, to the difficulty in growing single crystals (R = CHCH2 and NH2) probably reflects the sensitivity of the various hydrogen bonding motifs to the substituent and limited range of crystallization conditions that can be applied.

Understanding why crystallization in strong magnetic fields can lead to new polymorphs requires methods to calculate the diamagnetic response of organic molecular crystals. We develop the calculation of the macroscopic diamagnetic susceptibility tensor, χcryst, for organic molecular crystals using periodic density functional methods. The crystal magnetic susceptibility tensor, χcryst, for all experimentally known polymorphs, and its molecular counterpart, χmol, are calculated for flexible pharmaceuticals such as carbamazepine, flufenamic acid, and chalcones, and rigid molecules, such as benzene, pyridine, acridine, anthracene, and coronene, whose molecular magnetic properties have been traditionally studied. A tensor addition method is developed to approximate the crystal diamagnetic susceptibility tensor, χcryst, from the molecular one, χmol, giving good agreement with those calculated directly using the more costly periodic density functional method for χcryst. The response of pharmaceutical molecules and crystals to magnetic fields, as embodied by χcryst, is largely determined by the packing in the crystal, as well as the molecular conformation. The anisotropy of χcryst can vary considerably between polymorphs though the isotropic terms are fairly constant. The implications for developing a computational method for predicting whether crystallization in a magnetic field could produce a novel or different polymorph are discussed.