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Topics in Structural Chemistry through After‐Dinner Humor
Author(s) -
Gavezzotti Angelo
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
israel journal of chemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.908
H-Index - 54
eISSN - 1869-5868
pISSN - 0021-2148
DOI - 10.1002/ijch.201600024
Subject(s) - chemistry , nucleation , intermolecular force , chemical physics , crystal structure , crystallography , crystal (programming language) , polymer science , nanotechnology , molecule , organic chemistry , materials science , computer science , programming language
Some of the best stories told by Jack Dunitz in after‐dinner speeches introduce comments and personal views on aspects of contemporary structural chemistry: crystal structure analysis and prediction, facts and fallacies in the study of intermolecular bonding, and theories of crystal formation, from nucleation to growth. The role of X‐ray crystallography in the determination of the structure of matter at a molecular level is highlighted, with broad and pervasive bearings on present‐day applications in materials science. A short essay presents the results of molecular simulations on the stability of small molecular clusters with crystalline structure: the future seems to lay not in the analysis of crystal structures after they are formed, but in the study of autocatalytic insurgence of long‐range ordering during nucleation processes.