Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 1, 2026
06:35
Construction and Systematical Symmetric Studies of a Series of Supramolecular Clusters with Binary or Ternary Ammonium Triphenylacetates
Published on: February 15, 2016
8.5K
A hand-twisted helical crystal based solely on hydrogen bonding
Subhankar Saha1, Gautam R Desiraju
1Solid State and Structural Chemistry Unit, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560 012, India. desiraju@sscu.iisc.ernet.ins.
Chemical Communications (Cambridge, England)
|May 31, 2017
Summary
Researchers developed a novel 2D plastic crystal, 4-pyridinyl 4-nitrobenzoate hydrate, which is hand-twistable. This breakthrough material was synthesized from a brittle precursor using a smart retrosynthetic design approach.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Crystallography
- Supramolecular Chemistry
Background:
- Plastic crystals are typically brittle and difficult to process.
- Developing flexible and processable crystalline materials is a significant challenge in materials science.
Purpose of the Study:
- To synthesize a novel, hand-twistable two-dimensional plastic crystal.
- To demonstrate a retrosynthetic design strategy for creating flexible crystalline materials.
Main Methods:
- Retrosynthetic design strategy based on molecular/supramolecular equivalence.
- Synthesis of 4-pyridinyl 4-nitrobenzoate hydrate from a brittle precursor.
Main Results:
- Successfully obtained a hand-twistable, hydrogen-bonded, two-dimensional plastic crystal.
- The synthesized crystal, 4-pyridinyl 4-nitrobenzoate hydrate, exhibits unique flexibility.
Conclusions:
- The retrosynthetic design strategy is effective for creating flexible plastic crystals.
- 4-pyridinyl 4-nitrobenzoate hydrate represents a new class of processable crystalline materials.
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