Real-time visualization of polymorph appearance process of organic molecular crystal simultaneous measurements of fluorescence and concentration changes

2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26410009
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Physical chemistry
• Research Institution: Shinshu University
• Principal Investigator: ITO Fuyuki 信州大学, 学術研究院教育学系, 准教授 (80403921)
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: 結晶生成 / 蛍光分光 / 多形

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Crystal formation from the solution is essential in fundamental science as well as the fabrication of pharmaceuticals, food, polymers and organic solid materials. In solution crystallization, the formation of crystal nuclei plays an important role in determining the crystal structure, size, and polymorph. We have developed the fluorescence microscopy that can detect the changes of the fluorescence and weight of the droplet simultaneously. We investigate the fluorescence properties of the boron difluoride complexes solution during evaporative crystallization.
We have found that crystals of boron difluoride complexes can be formed from monomer species via an amorphous state, which is formed prior to crystal formation. This study has clearly confirmed the two-step nucleation model by measuring fluorescence color changes. The present method also enables us to achieve the observation for the polymorphic appearance of organic crystal formation.

Free Research Field

光化学