Friday 3 February 2pm, Hume-Rothery Lecture Theatre
Structure in the organic solid state: prediction, manipulation, and the road to control
Matthew Habgood
Department of Chemistry, University College London
The range of solid phases that an organic molecule can adopt is critical to its usefulness. In the last decade, our ability to computationally rationalize and predict organic molecular crystal structures has matured to a very great extent. In this talk I will highlight two important aspects of the recent progress. One aspect is the methods and models that have been developed, with a few notable case studies. The second aspect is the use of the same methods to indicate how the solid form adopted by a molecule can be manipulated in a rational manner, particularly by cocrystal or salt formation. I will also discuss a few of the remaining challenges to full computational prediction and control of the organic solid state, and suggest how the techniques described here can be applied in other areas.