Pressure-induced superelastic behaviour of isonicotinamide.

Dynamic organic crystals have come to the fore as potential lightweight alternatives to inorganic actuators providing high weight-to-force ratios. We have observed pressure-induced superelastic behaviour in Form I of isonicotinamide. The reversible single-crystal to single-crystal transformation exhibited by the system is an important component for functioning actuators. Crucially, our observations have enabled us to propose a mechanism for the molecular movement supported by Pixel energy calculations, that may pave the way for the future design and development of functioning dynamic crystals.

Effect of Chirality on the Compression of 2-(2-Oxo-1-pyrrolidinyl)butyramide: A Tale of Two Crystals.

Understanding polymorphism in chiral systems for drug manufacturing is essential to avoid undesired therapeutic effects. Generally, polymorphism is studied through changes in temperature and solution concentration. A less common approach is the application of pressure. The goal of this work is to investigate the effect of pressure on levetiracetam (pure enantiomer) and etiracetam (racemic compound). Anisotropic compressions of levetiracetam and etiracetam are observed to 5.26 and 6.29 GPa, respectively. The most compressible direction for both was identified to be perpendicular to the layers of the structure. Raman spectroscopy and an analysis of intermolecular interactions suggest subtle phase transitions in levetiracetam (∼2 GPa) and etiracetam (∼1.5 GPa). The stability of etiracetam increases with respect to levetiracetam on compression; hence, the chiral resolution of this system is unfavorable using pressure. This work contributes to the ongoing efforts in understanding the stability of chiral systems.

Size and ability do matter! Influence of acidity and pore size on the synthesis of hindered halogenated meso-phenyl porphyrins catalysed by porous solid oxides.

The rationalisation of the influence of acidity and pore size of several solid oxides so that they selectively act as supports for preparation of encapsulated porphyrin hybrid materials or as catalysts for synthesis of porphyrins in solution is discussed. Encapsulated porphyrin yields are dependent on both the acidity and the material pore size, Al-MCM-41 being the best fitting solid, with Lewis acidity of 120 µmol Py per g and a pore size 30 Å. On the other hand, when the goal is the synthesis of hindered mesoarylporphyrins in solution, the best solid porous catalyst is NaY, with Lewis acidity of 510 µmol Py per g and a pore size 14 Å. This method provides an appealing efficient, reusable and scalable catalyst alternative for one-pot synthesis of meso-arylporphyrins in high yields.