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Andrzej Katrusiak

Publications and source records attributed to Andrzej Katrusiak.

13 recordsLinked to original sources

Disproportionation of pyrazine in NH+...N hydrogen-bonded complexes: new materials of exceptional dielectric response.

Centrosymmetric pyrazinium NH+...N bonded complexes allow their dielectric properties to be analyzed separately from the bulk ferroelectric polarization observed in the noncentrosymmetric DABCO monosalts. The method of dielectric permittivity measurements has been employed for monitoring polarization fluctuations generated by proton transfers in the NH+...N bonded linear polycations. The revealed dielectric response of [C4H5N2]+BF4- and [C4H5N2]+ClO4- cannot be reconciled with the centrosymmetric symmetry of their structures, but suggests formation of polar defects or nanoregions. Unique transformations of the pyrazine [C4H5N2]+BF4- complex between linear NH+...N hydrogen-bonded polycationic aggregates antiparallel in phase gamma, perpendicular chains in phase beta, and with NH+...N bonds broken in phase alpha have been observed. The [C4H5N2]+ClO4- and [C4H5N2]+BF4- complexes as grown at 290 K are isostructural in orthorhombic phase , space group Pbcm, with linear polycationic chains arranged antiparallel. On heating, the tetrafluoroborate and perchlorate salts each undergoes two first-order phase transitions at similar temperatures about 340-360 K, while on cooling only one phase transition has been observed. An extremely unique sequence of two phase transitions subsequently lowering the symmetry of the [C4H5N2]+BF4- crystal when temperature is increased has been evidenced: the orthorhombic phase heated above 343 K transforms into the monoclinic C2/c-symmetric phase beta, in which the NH+...N bonded linear chains assume perpendicular arrangement; and at about 353-357 K the anions and cations adopt a typical ionic-crystal packing without homonuclear NH+...N hydrogen bonds in a still lower-symmetry monoclinic P21/n-symmetric structure. The exceptional perpendicular arrangement of the linear NH+...N bonded chains in phase beta constitutes a unique system where polarization of small regions can assume various orientations within a plane, depending on the H+ sites. No phase transitions or anomalous dielectric response were observed in the NH+...O bonded [C4H5N2]+NO3- complex. The unprecedented structure-property relations of the pyrazinium complexes fully confirm the role of the NH+...N bond transformations for the dielectric response of analogous DABCO ferroelectrics.

Journal Article↗

Competing hydrogen-bonding patterns and phase transitions of 1,2-diaminoethane at varied temperature and pressure.

1,2-diaminoethane has been in-situ pressure- and temperature-frozen; apart from two known low-temperature phases, Ialpha and II, three new phases, Ibeta, Igamma and III, have been observed and their structures determined by X-ray diffraction. The measurements at 0.1 MPa were carried out at 274, 243 and 224 K, and 296 K measurements were made at 0.15 GPa (phase Ialpha), at 0.3 and 1.1 GPa (phase Ibeta), at 1.5 GPa (phase Igamma), and at 0.2, 0.3 and 0.5 GPa (phase III). All these phases are monoclinic, space group P2(1)/c, but the unit-cell dimension of phases Ialpha and III are very different at 296 K: aIalpha=5.078 (5), bIalpha=7.204 (8), cIalpha=5.528 (20) A, betaIalpha=115.2 (2) degrees at 0.15 GPa, and aIII=5.10 (3), bIII=5.212 (2), cIII=7.262 (12) A, betaIII=111.6 (4) degrees at 0.2 GPa, respectively; in both phases Z=2. An ambient-pressure low-temperature phase II has been observed below 189 K. Discontinuities in the unit-cell dimensions and in the N...N distance mark the isostructural transition between phases Ialpha and Ibeta at 0.2 GPa, which can be attributed to a damping process of the NH2 group rotations. In phase Igamma the unit-cell parameter a doubles and Z increases to 4. The molecule has inversion symmetry in all the structures determined. 1,2-Diaminoethane can be considered as a simple structural ice analogue, but with NH...N hydrogen bonds and with the H-atom donors (four in one molecule) in excess over H-atom acceptors (two per molecule). Thus, the transformations of 1,2-diaminoethane phases involving the conformational dynamics affect the hydrogen-bonding geometry and molecular association in the crystal. The 1,2-diaminoethane:1,2-dihydroxyethane mixture has been separated by pressure-freezing, and a solid 1,2-diaminoethane crystal in liquid 1,2-dihyroxyethane has been obtained.

Crystallography, X-Ray↗

Pressure-frozen 1,2,3-trichloropropane.

The structure of 1,2,3-trichloropropane, ClCH2CHClCH2Cl, in-situ crystallized in a diamond-anvil cell, has been determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction at 0.28 and 0.35 GPa. A melting point at 295 K and 0.22 GPa has been determined. The molecular conformation of aliphatic chain and terminal Cl atoms is approximately C2 symmetric. Of the intermolecular contacts, the tightest are the Cl...Cl and then the Cl...H contacts, whereas the H...H distances are considerably longer than the sum of the van der Waals radii and leave narrow voids in the structure. The elevated pressure reduces the H...H separations but hardly affects the Cl...Cl distances. The crystal growth rates, compression and types of intermolecular interactions in the structures can be correlated with the directions of the Cl...Cl contacts, which can be considered the main motif responsible for the molecular arrangement in the structure.

Crystallography, X-Ray↗

Molecular interactions in crystalline dibromomethane and diiodomethane, and the stabilities of their high-pressure and low-temperature phases.

Dibromomethane, CH2Br2, and diiodomethane, CH2I2, have been in situ pressure-crystallized in a diamond-anvil cell and their structures determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction at 0.61 and 0.16 GPa, respectively. The pressure-frozen CH2Br2 crystal is isostructural with its C2/c phase obtained by cooling. CH2I2 is known to form several phases at low temperature, one of which is isostructural with CH2Br2. However, pressure freezing leads to the polar Fmm2 phase. The formation of the polar CH2I2 structure at 0.16 GPa has been rationalized by the electrostatic and anisotropic van der Waals interactions of the I atoms. No ferroelectric behaviour of the Fmm2 polar phase II of CH2I2 has been determined. The diffraction, calorimetric and dielectric constant studies reveal considerable temperature hysteresis of transformations between the CH2I2 phases, as well as metastable regions strongly dependent on the sample shape and history.

Crystallization↗

Pressure tuning between NH...N hydrogen-bonded ice analogue and NH...Br polar dabcoHBr complexes.

At normal conditions 1,4-diazabicyclo[2.2.2]octane hydrobromide [C(6)H(13)N(2)](+.)Br(-) forms centrosymmetric crystals, space group Pm2, NH(+)...N hydrogen-bonded linear polycationic chains with disordered protons in the structure. As in H(2)O ice Ih, the protons in [C(6)H(13)N(2)](+.)Br(-) crystals remain disordered at low temperatures. Above 0.4 GPa the [C(6)H(13)N(2)](+.)Br(-) crystals transform into a new polar NH(+)...Br(-) hydrogen bonded complex, space group Cmc2. It has been crystallized in-situ in a diamond anvil cell and its structure determined by X-rays. The low-pressure triggering of this transformation indicates that it is a possible source of defects in the real structure at normal conditions, where, along with disproportionation defects, they can be responsible for anomalous dielectric properties, including relaxor-like behavior of NH...N hydrogen-bonded compounds.

Algorithms↗

Pressure-frozen benzene I revisited.

The crystal structure of benzene, C6H6, in situ pressure-frozen in phase I, has been determined by X-ray diffraction at 0.30, 0.70 and 1.10 GPa, and 296 K. The molecular aggregation within phase I is consistent with van der Waals contacts and electrostatic attraction of the positive net atomic charges at the H atoms with the negative net charges of the C atoms. The C-H...aromatic ring centre contacts are the most prominent feature of the two experimentally determined benzene crystal structures in phases I and III, whereas no stacking of the molecules has been observed. This specific crystal packing is a likely reason for the exceptionally high polymerization pressure of benzene. The changes of molecular arrangement within phase I on elevating the pressure and lowering the temperature are analogous.

Journal Article↗

Absence of halogen...halogen interactions in chlorotrimethylsilane polymorphs.

The structures of in situ pressure-frozen chlorotrimethylsilane crystals, (CH3)3SiCl, have been determined at 0.23, 0.30 and 0.58 GPa. The molecular arrangements in the low-temperature and high-pressure phases are two-dimensionally isostructural, but different in the third perpendicular direction. Consequently, a striking similarity exists between the unit-cell dimensions of these polymorphs. The absence of short Cl...Cl contacts, both in the low-temperature or pressure-frozen phases of (CH3)3SiCl, has been rationalized in terms of the favoured packing patterns and comparable energies of halogen...halogen interactions and other van der Waals forces.

Journal Article↗

In situ high-pressure crystallization and compression of halogen contacts in dichloromethane.

The structure of dichloromethane, CH2Cl2, crystallized in situ in a diamond-anvil cell, has been determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction at 1.33 and 1.63 GPa. The pressure-frozen crystal was determined to be orthorhombic, with the space group Pbcn, and isostructural with the low-temperature phase at 0.1 MPa. The CH2Cl2 molecules are located on one set of crystallographic twofold axes. The characteristics determined for the CH2Cl2 crystal (compression of the close intermolecular contacts, molecular association and the crystal habit of dichloromethane) suggest that the crystal cohesion forces are dominated by H...Cl interactions rather than by Cl...Cl attractions.

Crystallography, X-Ray↗

Shadowing and absorption corrections of high-pressure powder diffraction data: toward accurate electron-density determinations.

The shadowing of the primary beam and of reflections from a powder crystal sample enclosed in a diamond-anvil high-pressure cell (DAC) is described for unrestricted data-collection procedures. The corrections account for the shadowing of the data measured with point- or area-detector diffractometers and can be applied for any containers of environment devices enclosing a powdered sample. The general procedure for correcting the powder diffraction data can be applied for analysing and optimizing diffractometric procedures of data collection and provides facilities for collecting high-pressure powder diffraction data with the DAC positioned optimally and rotated to counteract the preferred-orientation and particle-size effects, and to increase the resolution of data. The quadrature effects of numerical integration for the accuracy of computed corrections have been analysed.

Journal Article↗

Thyroxine revisited.

The crystal structure of the common therapeutic agent, the pentahydrated sodium salt of L-thyroxine hormone (3-[4-(4-hydroxy-3,5-diiodophenoxy)-3,5-diiodophenyl]-L-alanine), has been determined and discussed in relation to the drug's stability. The stoichiometry and absolute configuration (-)-C(8)S-[C15H10I4NO4]-.Na+.5H2O have been confirmed. The crystals are built of a three-dimensional supramolecular network with two symmetry-independent L-thyroxine anions, in two distinct conformations not previously reported, linked by strong NH-O hydrogen bonds into dimers. Two independent sodium cations are fivefold and sixfold coordinated. The cations and two independent water molecules not involved in coordinating the Na cations form sheets along the crystallographic (001) planes. The presence of differently coordinated cations and non-coordinating water molecules may be responsible for water transport and loss, for decay of the crystals, and subsequent low stability of the drug. Only a conglomerate could be obtained when racemic sodium thyroxine was crystallized from ethanol and methanol solutions by evaporation, which explains the equal penta-hydration of the sodium salts of enantiomorphic and racemic thyroxine, and the fact that there are no apparent differences in their stability.

Anions↗

Ionic disparity of identical molecules in polymorphs.

[structure: see text] Formation of ionic pairs of identical molecules, extremely common in Nature but exceptional for diffractometric observations in the crystalline state, has been found in one of two polymorphs of a nucleobase analogue, 4,6-pyrimidinedione (1). The occurrence of the neutral and ionic polymorphs of 1 in many respects resembles neutral-ionic transitions of electon-donor/acceptor complexes. The ionization affects the reactivity of 1 and illustrates general properties of H-tautomers with low-disproportionation energy.

Journal Article↗

Ferroelectric order of parallel bistable hydrogen bonds.

A new NH.N hydrogen-bonded ferroelectric crystal of [C6H12N2H]+ReO - 4 (dabcoHReO4) exhibits exceptional dielectric properties that result from the unique structure where all the bistable NH...N hydrogen bonds are parallel and directed exactly in the same sense. Consequently, the main structural origin of the spontaneous polarization of the crystal is the identical orientation of the asymmetric NH+...N hydrogen bonds along [001]. This first observation of a ferroelectric with parallel arrangement of the NH+...N bonded aggregates, gives temperature-independent and the highest spontaneous polarization ever reported for an organic or water-soluble substance.

Journal Article↗

Coupling of the lactone-ring conformation with crystal symmetry in 6-hydroxy-4,4,5,7,8-pentamethyl-3,4-dihydrocoumarin.

Conformational disorder and inversions of the lactone ring induce structural transformations in the crystals of 6-hydroxy-4,4,5,7,8-pentamethyl-3,4-dihydrocoumarin, C14H18O3. The onset of ordering of the lactone ring at 300 K proceeds continuously, changes the space group from P2(1)/m to P2(1)/c and doubles the unit cell; the abrupt inversion of the lactone rings at 225 K changes the crystal translational symmetry in the (010) plane. The mechanism combining the molecular conformation and dynamics with the crystal structure, its symmetry, and phase transitions is presented.

Journal Article↗