W0083

A Hydrogen-Bond Template for Preparing Unusual Structures. James H. Loehlin, Department of Chemistry, Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA 02181

Complementary alcohol?amine cocrystals can form saturated hydrogen bond (SHB) structures in which all the alcohol and amine hydrogen atoms and lone pair electrons are utilized. The majority of these have a "chicken-wire" pattern of direct -O-H???N- and -N-H???O- hydrogen bonds (J. H. Loehlin, K. J. Franz, L. Gist & R. H. Moore, Acta Crystallographica B54, 1998, in press). Comparison of the geometry in all the known SHB structures of this type, where the alcohol comes from one side of the hydrogen-bonded net and the amine the other, suggests using this pattern as a template in designing new materials. If the alcohol is on one chemical moiety and the amine on another, controlled application of each might provide a route to producing a variety of cocrystal structures that would be inaccessible by standard crystal preparation methods.

This presentation will give an analysis of the known structures, and will indicate a few of the variety of materials which might be made using this templating technique. It will explain how we are attempting to take advantage of this fortuitous set of circumstances to obtain unusual crystals, and give an up-to-date report on the progress of our experiments, which are currently in their preliminary stages.