Raman microprobe characterization of urea: n ‐paraffin inclusion compounds

Urea: n ‐paraffin inclusion compounds have been formed through sonification of urea with pure paraffin liquids. Raman microprobe spectra of individual microcrystals (5–50 μm in size) of these materials are interpreted in terms of a non‐planar conformation for the included paraffins. A series of trans and gauche bonds is shown to yield a conformation of the included alkane that preserves the full symmetry of the hexagonal urea host. The urea host lattice spectrum thereby shows additional sharp bands consonant with a more highly ordered host lattice. These observations are contrasted to the case of the trans ‐planar conformation normally encountered and verified in this work for urea: n ‐paraffin inclusion compounds prepared from solution.