Crystallisation of supramolecular materials

The design and synthesis of crystalline materials with tailor-made properties is one of the more difficult and therefore challenging tasks in supramolecular chemistry. Increasingly, both the properties and the structures of the molecular building blocks are being optimised prior to crystallisation, with special emphasis being given to the design of directional intermolecular interaction sites. Multicomponent systems such as co-crystals are gaining in attractiveness because they allow greater synthetic flexibility and thus enhance diversity in the structures and properties of the final crystals. Several new techniques for monitoring growth behavior (often in situ) at the crystal surface have been reported. There is a clear need to understand in more detail the fundamental processes taking place in the early stages of the supramolecular synthesis.