Crystal Engineering

Crystal engineering is the study of the design and production of solid-state crystals with desired features by purposefully manipulating intermolecular interactions. It is an academic discipline that combines solid-state and supramolecular chemistry. Coordination bonding and hydrogen- and halogen-halogen bonding are the two primary engineering techniques now in use. These may be comprehended with the help of fundamental ideas like the secondary building unit and the supramolecular synthon. The phrase "crystal engineering" was originally used in 1955 by R. Pepinsky, although Gerhard Schmidt is frequently credited with providing the impetus in connection with photodimerization processes in crystalline cinnamic acids. Since its original application, the term's definition has significantly expanded to encompass a variety of features of solid-state supramolecular chemistry. When Gautam Desiraju defined crystal engineering in 1988, he said that it was "the understanding of intermolecular interactions in the context of crystal packing and the utilisation of such understanding in the design of new solids with desired physical and chemical properties." This definition is still relevant today. It is obvious that the capacity to manage this ordering would grant control over these features as the way the molecules are organised in the solid state determines many of the bulk properties of molecular materials.