From 2D to 3D crystals: a multi-scale, multi-technique and multi-system approach of the crystallization of organic molecules

Polymorphism is the occurrence of two or more crystal structures for a given molecule. This phenomenon is ubiquitous to various classes of synthetic and natural compounds. Examples of polymorphism are known in numerous application fields, such as food, explosives, pigments, semiconductors, fertilizers, and pharmaceutical drugs. Different crystal structures of the same compound, so-called polymorphs, exhibit sometimes very different physical properties, chemical reactivity, and biological functions. This can influence, for instance, the pharmaceutical properties of one compound. Understanding and controlling polymorphism is therefore very important.
The project ‘2Dto3D’ will address unanswered questions in this field, such as "How many polymorphs has a given compound?" or "What drives polymorph selection?". Researchers will explore the occurrence of substrate-induced polymorphism, i.e. the formation of polymorphs that exist only near solid substrates, to gain a fundamental understanding of this intriguing phenomenon.
The project gathers researchers from ULB (Yves Geerts - Laboratory of Polymer Chemistry, Faculty of Sciences), Université de Mons, Universiteit Antwerpen, Technische Universität Graz, Max-Planck Institut für Polymerforschung and KULeuven (coordinator).
Dates
Created on August 13, 2018