THIS PROPOSAL DESCRIBES THE USE OF GEL-GROWTH TECHNIQUES FOR REPRODUCIBLY GROWING LARGE, HIGH-QUALITY CRYSTALS OF A WIDE VARIETY OF ORGANIC COMPOUNDS.

THIS PROPOSAL DESCRIBES THE USE OF GEL-GROWTH TECHNIQUES FOR REPRODUCIBLY GROWING LARGE, HIGH-QUALITY CRYSTALS OF A WIDE VARIETY OF ORGANIC COMPOUNDS. THE GEL-GROWTH METHOD HAS BEEN USED VERY SUCCESSFULLY FOR GROWING HIGH-QUALITY INORGANIC CRYSTALS THAT HAVE TECHNOLOGICALLY USEFUL PROPERTIES SUCH AS SEMICONDUCTIVITY, PIEZOELECTRICITY, FERROELECTRICITY, AND NON-LINEAR OPTICAL ACTIVITY. ORGANIC CRYSTALS ARE MORE DIFFICULT TO GROW THAN INORGANIC CRYSTALS, PRESENTLY LIMITING THEIR USE IN TECHNOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS. HIGH-QUALITY ORGANIC CRYSTALS WOULD HAVE WIDE RANGING TECHOLOGICAL USES AND ARE IN DEMAND BY SYNTHETIC CHEMISTS WHO NOW USE X-RAY CRYSTALLOGRAPHY ALMOST ROUTINELY TO IDENTIFY THE STRUCTURES OF NEW COMPOUNDS. THE PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY REQUIRES CRYSTALS OF WHOLE SERIES OF NEW DRUGS IN ORDER TO OBTAIN CRYSTAL STRUCTURE INFORMATION FOR STRUCTURE-ACTIVITY CORRELATIONS. OUR PROPOSAL DESCRIBES WAYS TO ADAPT THE TRADITIONAL AQUEOUS GEL-GROWTH METHOD TO GELS FORMED WITH ORGANIC SOLVENTS. VARIOUS GEL COMPONENTS WILL BE TESTED STARTING WITH COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE AND WELL-CHARACTERIZED GEL PRECURSORS USED FOR CHROMATOGRAPHY. GELS MOST SUITABLE FOR A WIDE VARIETY OF ORGANIC SOLVENTS, WILL BE TESTED WITH ONE AND TWO COMPONENT CRYSTAL GROWTH PROCEDURES, AND WILL ALSO BE USED TO FORM CRYSTALS VIA CHEMICAL SYNTHESIS IN THE GEL. CRYSTAL MORPHOLOGY, SIZE, AND QUALITY WILL BE EVALUATED WITH POLARIZING OPTICAL LIGHT MICROSCOPY AND BY X-RAY DIFFRACTION FILM TECHNIQUES.