Creating Organic Functional Materials beyond Chemical Bond Synthesis by Organic Cocrystal Engineering

Abstract

Organic cocrystal engineering refers to two or more organic molecules stoichiometrically combined and held together by noncovalent intermolecular interactions, which differs from standard chemical synthesis involving covalent bond breakage and formation. Organic cocrystals have unique properties and offer a new strategy for creating enhanced organics. First, however, some key questions need to be addressed: How do diverse monomers affect the intermolecular interaction kinetics during cocrystallization? How do the intermolecular forces in cocrystals affect cocrystal functions? In this Perspective, the definition and advantages of organic cocrystal engineering, specifically in the construction of a reliable intermolecular interaction–stacking structure–performance relationship, are outlined. Additionally, recent developments in the field and the questions above are discussed. Finally, a brief conclusion and some hints on likely future developments are provided.

Double helical π-aggregate nanoarchitectonics for amplified circularly polarized luminescence

“…Nature has adopted a more sagacious strategy to stabilize and amplify the helical sense of π-aggregates. For example, the double helical π-stacking of the complementary DNA nucleotides with the same absolute configurations is exquisitely fixed in the presence of multiple H-bonds, which has enlightened H-bonds-assisted co-assembly strategy of hetero π-systems to improve the performance of organic π-materials 30 – 38 . More interesting one is the enantioselective co-assembly among chiral π-systems with different molecular chirality 39 , 40 , which might not only further manipulate CPL performance through DNA-like hetero π-stacking but also contribute to understanding the origin of homochirality in nature 41 .…”

Ternary and quaternary cocrystals of 2,7-dihydroxynaphthalene: systematic design with a large synthon module

“…Cocrystals are multi-component molecular solids that have already shown their potential in various fields, including materials science and pharmaceuticals. [1][2][3][4] Successful synthesis of a cocrystal generally depends upon the subtle balance between chemical factors (often dictated by non-covalent interactions) and geometrical factors (often dictated by close packing) between two or more different molecules. 5 Hence, the synthesis of stoichiometric higher-order cocrystals (cocrystals with more than two components) poses a significant challenge, since a balance between the chemical and geometrical factors is sought among a greater number of different organic molecules, which are anisotropic in shape and size and often differ in the nature and position of functional groups.…”

An organic cocrystal based on phthalocyanine with ideal packing mode towards high-performance ambipolar property

“…2a). 23 Accordingly, there is a red-shifted peak in the absorption spectrum of the cocrystals (Fig. 2b).…”