Making crystals from crystals: a green route to crystal engineering and polymorphism

Supramolecular reactions between crystalline materials as well as reactions between a crystalline material and a vapour can be used to generate new crystalline substances. These solvent-free processes can be exploited to prepare both hydrogen-bonded co-crystals and coordination networks. Solid–vapour reactions do not differ from solid–vapour uptake/release processes, and can also be used to prepare polymorphs and solvates. It is argued that solvent-less reactions involving molecular crystals represent a green route to supramolecular solid-state chemistry and crystal engineering.