7 research outputs found
Two Notions Of Safety
Timothy Williamson (1992, 224–5) and Ernest Sosa (1996) have ar- gued that knowledge requires one to be safe from error. Something is said to be safe from happening iff it does not happen at “close” worlds. I expand here on a puzzle noted by John Hawthorne (2004, 56n) that suggests the need for two notions of closeness. Counterfac- tual closeness is a matter of what could in fact have happened, given the specific circumstances at hand. The notion is involved in the semantics for counterfactuals and is the one epistemologists have typically assumed. Normalized closeness is rather a matter of what could typically have happened, that is, what would go on in a class of normal alternatives to actuality, irrespectively of whether or not they could have happened in the circumstances at hand
Mechanism for Polymorphic Transformation of Artemisinin during High Temperature Extrusion
A novel, green, and continuous method
for solid-state polymorphic
transformation of artemisinin by high temperature extrusion has recently
been demonstrated. This communication describes attempts to understand
the mechanisms causing phase transformation during the extrusion process.
Polymorphic transformation was investigated using hot stage microscopy
and a model shear cell. At high temperature, phase transformation
from orthorhombic to the triclinic crystals was observed through a
vapor phase. Under mechanical stress, the crystalline structure was
disrupted continuously, exposing new surfaces and accelerating the
transformation process
“<i>In-Silico</i> Seeding”: Isostructurality and Pseudoisostructurality in a Family of Aspirin Derivatives
Novel crystal packings of the aspirin
molecule and 17 molecules
that are related to aspirin by substitution are studied using a computational
approach. The packings are created by taking a crystal structure for
which the crystal packing and molecular geometry have been determined
experimentally and replacing the native molecule with a different
one. The resulting crystal structures are optimized using molecular
mechanics, followed by a quantum mechanical method based on density
functional theory and including a correction for dispersive interactions.
There are 21 known, experimental, crystal structures for the molecules
considered, some of which are polymorphic. For any given molecule,
the lowest, calculated lattice energy is always found to be that of
a crystal structure which corresponds to experiment. For the three
polymorphic molecules, the second lowest lattice energy is also found
to correspond to an experimental structure. The agreement between
the observation of a particular packing and its low rank in the list
of possible packings is evidence of the accuracy of the method for
calculating the lattice energy. Further analysis of the results shows
patterns reflecting the underlying supramolecular constructs that
are common to the different packings of these molecules. This leads
to some speculation as to the possibilities of finding new polymorphs
for some of these molecules
Crystal Structure Prediction of a Flexible Molecule of Pharmaceutical Interest with Unusual Polymorphic Behavior
Crystal structure prediction methods have been used to
explore
the potential energy landscape for crystals of a melatonin agonist
(MA). All known experimental polymorphs were found in the search for
crystal packing alternatives with a single molecule in the asymmetric
unit, and the predicted order of stability agrees with experiment.
The crystal structure corresponding to the global minimum has not
been observed experimentally, but analysis of the crystal structures
of similar molecules in the Cambridge Structural Database (CSD) indicates
that the packing motif present in the predicted structure is also
found in nature. To date it has not been experimentally possible to
crystallize the most stable polymorph of the biologically active <i>R</i>-enantiomer, whereas the <i>S</i>-enantiomer
readily crystallizes in the stable form. Analysis of the results shows
that this polymorph has an uncommon packing motif which is found just
once among the 12 lowest energy predicted structures but is seen in
two crystal structures of MA-like molecules whose structures are stored
in the CSD. On the basis of the calculations and comparisons with
experimental crystal structures, suggestions are made as to possible
routes for crystallizing the, as yet unknown, polymorph of MA, which
corresponds to the predicted structure with the lowest lattice energy
Chrysomela goettingensis
Crystal structure prediction methods have been used to
explore
the potential energy landscape for crystals of a melatonin agonist
(MA). All known experimental polymorphs were found in the search for
crystal packing alternatives with a single molecule in the asymmetric
unit, and the predicted order of stability agrees with experiment.
The crystal structure corresponding to the global minimum has not
been observed experimentally, but analysis of the crystal structures
of similar molecules in the Cambridge Structural Database (CSD) indicates
that the packing motif present in the predicted structure is also
found in nature. To date it has not been experimentally possible to
crystallize the most stable polymorph of the biologically active <i>R</i>-enantiomer, whereas the <i>S</i>-enantiomer
readily crystallizes in the stable form. Analysis of the results shows
that this polymorph has an uncommon packing motif which is found just
once among the 12 lowest energy predicted structures but is seen in
two crystal structures of MA-like molecules whose structures are stored
in the CSD. On the basis of the calculations and comparisons with
experimental crystal structures, suggestions are made as to possible
routes for crystallizing the, as yet unknown, polymorph of MA, which
corresponds to the predicted structure with the lowest lattice energy
Synthesis, Prediction, and Determination of Crystal Structures of (<i>R</i>/<i>S</i>)- and (<i>S</i>)‑1,6-Dinitro-3,8-dioxa-1,6‑diazaspiro[4.4]nonane-2,7-dione
Spiro-cyclic compounds frequently have screw-type symmetry
(<i>C</i><sub>2</sub>) and are therefore optically active
even though
they do not contain an asymmetric carbon atom. (<i>R</i>/<i>S</i>)-1,6-Dinitro-3,8-dioxa-1,6-diazaspiro[4.4]nonane-2,7-dione
is such a molecule. A blind crystal structure prediction study of
structures containing one molecule in the asymmetric unit and considering
all 230 space groups was undertaken using a dispersion-corrected density
functional approach, which found a packing that matched the experimental
structure of the (<i>R</i>/<i>S</i>) form as the
lowest energy packing alternative. The densities of (<i>R</i>/<i>S</i>)<i>-</i> and (<i>S</i>)-
or (<i>R</i>)-1,6-dinitro-3,8-dioxa-1,6-diazaspiro[4.4]nonane-2,7-dione
calculated for the optimized experimental crystal structures confirmed
that there is a small difference in the densities of the racemate
and the optically active compound, with the optically active material
being slightly more dense (1.875 versus 1.842 g/cm<sup>3</sup>). (<i>R</i>/<i>S</i>)-1,6-Dinitro-3,8-dioxa-1,6-diazaspiro[4.4]nonane-2,7-dione
was synthesized as previously described. Synthesis of the pure (<i>S</i>)-stereoisomer was accomplished by resolution of the racemic
dithiourethane using a previously described method, followed by reaction
of the pure enantiomer with acetyl nitrate. The absolute configuration
of the <i>l</i>-3,8-dioxa-1,6-diazaspiro[4.4]nonane-2,7-dithione
was established as (<i>S</i>)- by redetermining the crystal
structure at 150 K. The racemate crystallizes in space group <i>P</i>2<sub>1</sub>/<i>n</i> with a density of 1.835
g/cm<sup>3</sup> (296 K). The (<i>S</i>)-compound crystallizes
in space group <i>P</i>2<sub>1</sub>2<sub>1</sub>2<sub>1</sub> with a density of 1.854 g/cm<sup>3</sup> (296 K). This is the first
demonstration of a difference in the density between the racemic mixture
and the optically pure stereoisomer of an energetic material. It is
also an apparent violation of Wallach’s rule, which states
that racemic crystals tend to be denser than their optically active
counterparts
Synthesis, Prediction, and Determination of Crystal Structures of (<i>R</i>/<i>S</i>)- and (<i>S</i>)‑1,6-Dinitro-3,8-dioxa-1,6‑diazaspiro[4.4]nonane-2,7-dione
Spiro-cyclic compounds frequently have screw-type symmetry
(<i>C</i><sub>2</sub>) and are therefore optically active
even though
they do not contain an asymmetric carbon atom. (<i>R</i>/<i>S</i>)-1,6-Dinitro-3,8-dioxa-1,6-diazaspiro[4.4]nonane-2,7-dione
is such a molecule. A blind crystal structure prediction study of
structures containing one molecule in the asymmetric unit and considering
all 230 space groups was undertaken using a dispersion-corrected density
functional approach, which found a packing that matched the experimental
structure of the (<i>R</i>/<i>S</i>) form as the
lowest energy packing alternative. The densities of (<i>R</i>/<i>S</i>)<i>-</i> and (<i>S</i>)-
or (<i>R</i>)-1,6-dinitro-3,8-dioxa-1,6-diazaspiro[4.4]nonane-2,7-dione
calculated for the optimized experimental crystal structures confirmed
that there is a small difference in the densities of the racemate
and the optically active compound, with the optically active material
being slightly more dense (1.875 versus 1.842 g/cm<sup>3</sup>). (<i>R</i>/<i>S</i>)-1,6-Dinitro-3,8-dioxa-1,6-diazaspiro[4.4]nonane-2,7-dione
was synthesized as previously described. Synthesis of the pure (<i>S</i>)-stereoisomer was accomplished by resolution of the racemic
dithiourethane using a previously described method, followed by reaction
of the pure enantiomer with acetyl nitrate. The absolute configuration
of the <i>l</i>-3,8-dioxa-1,6-diazaspiro[4.4]nonane-2,7-dithione
was established as (<i>S</i>)- by redetermining the crystal
structure at 150 K. The racemate crystallizes in space group <i>P</i>2<sub>1</sub>/<i>n</i> with a density of 1.835
g/cm<sup>3</sup> (296 K). The (<i>S</i>)-compound crystallizes
in space group <i>P</i>2<sub>1</sub>2<sub>1</sub>2<sub>1</sub> with a density of 1.854 g/cm<sup>3</sup> (296 K). This is the first
demonstration of a difference in the density between the racemic mixture
and the optically pure stereoisomer of an energetic material. It is
also an apparent violation of Wallach’s rule, which states
that racemic crystals tend to be denser than their optically active
counterparts