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Molecular crystals of Pt(II) complexes with metallophilic interactions can provide bright assembly-induced luminescence with colour tunability. However, the brittleness of many of these crystals makes their application in flexible optical materials difficult. Herein, we have achieved the elastic deformation of crystals of polyhalogenated Pt(II) complexes exhibiting bright assembly-induced luminescence. A crystal of [Pt(bpic)(dFppy)] (Hbpic = 5-bromopicolinic acid, HdFppy = 2-(2,4-difluorophenyl)pyridine) and a co-crystal of [Pt(bpic)(dFppy)] and [Pt(bpic)(ppy)] (Hppy = 2-phenylpyridine) were found to exhibit significant elastic deformation due to their highly anisotropic interaction topologies. While the crystal of [Pt(bpic)(dFppy)] exhibited monomer-based ligand-centred 3ππ* emission with an emission quantum yield of 0.40, the co-crystal exhibited bright, triplet metal–metal-to-ligand charge transfer (3MMLCT) emission owing to Pt⋯Pt interactions, thereby achieving a significantly higher emission quantum yield of 0.94. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Single crystals showing elastic flexibility have attracted increasing attention as next-generation soft materials. Herein, we successfully developed a series of polyhalogenated platinum(II)–bipyridine complexes showing solvent-of-crystallisation-dependent elastic flexibility. Notably, methanol-solvated crystals were the first examples of flexible crystals showing assembly-induced luminescence arising from the triplet metal–metal-to-ligand charge transfer (3MMLCT) excited state. Furthermore, factors inducing elastic deformability based on the packing structures of the crystals were explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A unique mechanical property of superelasticity is observed not only in so-called shape-memory alloys but also in molecular crystals. In contrast, superelasticity can coexist with various attractive functions derived from molecules in the latter. Herein we demonstrate a photoluminescent organosuperelastic crystal of a pure organic compound: 7-amino-4-methylcoumarin. UV light irradiation causes a negligible effect on a stress–strain curve with a typical superelastic hysteresis loop in the crystal. The emission color of yellow-green is visually unchanged during the superelastic deformation because of the twinning nature. Superelasticity coexisting with photoluminescence properties is unprecedented in the conventional SMAs and indicates promising practical applications of molecular crystals as the next generation superelastic materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mechanically adaptable molecular crystals have potential applications in flexible smart materials and devices. Here, we report the mechanism of plastic deformation in single crystals of a small organic molecule (N-(4-ethynylphenyl)-3-fluoro-4-(trifluoromethyl)benzamide) that can be repeatedly irreversibly bent and returned to its original shape without concomitant delamination or loss of integrity. Along with the quantification of the crystals' local and bulk mechanical properties (hardness, indentation modulus and Young's modulus), micro-focus synchrotron X-ray diffraction mapping show that upon deformation, molecular layers lined with trifluoromethyl groups cooperatively slip past one another resulting in their impressive plastic malleability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ferroelasticity has been reported for several types of molecular crystals, which show mechanical‐stress‐induced shape change under twinning and/or spontaneous formation of strain. Aiming to create materials that exhibit both ferroelasticity and light‐emission characteristics, we discovered the first examples of ferroelastic luminescent organometallic crystals. Crystals of arylgold(I)(N‐heterocyclic carbene)(NHC) complexes bend upon exposure to anisotropic mechanical stress. X‐ray diffraction analyses and stress‐strain measurements on these ferroelastic crystals confirmed typical ferroelastic behavior, mechanical twinning, and the spontaneous build‐up of strain. A comparison with single‐crystal structures of related gold‐NHC complexes that do not show ferroelasticity shed light on the structural origins of the ferroelastic behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chromism—color changes by external stimuli—has been intensively studied to develop smart materials because of easily detectability of the stimuli by eye or common spectroscopy as color changes. Luminescent chromism has particularly attracted research interest because of its high sensitivity. The color changes typically proceed in a one-way, two-state cycle, i.e. a stimulus-induced state will restore the initial state by another stimuli. Chromic systems showing instant, biphasic color switching and spontaneous reversibility will have wider practical applicability. Here we report luminescent chromism having such characteristics shown by mechanically controllable phase transitions in a luminescent organosuperelastic crystal. In mechanochromic luminescence, superelasticity—diffusion-less plastic deformation with spontaneous shape recoverability—enables real-time, reversible, and stepless control of the abundance ratio of biphasic color emissions via a single-crystal-to-single-crystal transformation by controlling a single stimulus, force stress. The unique chromic system, referred to as superelastochromism, holds potential for realizing informative molecule-based mechanical sensing. Color changes by external stimuli, so-called chromism, have been intensively studied to develop smart materials due to the stimulus-responsiveness of chromic materials. Here the authors demonstrate luminescent chromism during a mechanically controllable phase transition in a luminescent organosuperelastic crystal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mechanical twinning changes atomic, molecular, and crystal orientations along with directions of the anisotropic properties of the crystalline materials while maintaining single crystallinity in each domain. However, such deformability has been less studied in brittle organic crystals despite their remarkable anisotropic functions. Herein we demonstrate a direction‐dependent mechanical twinning that shows superelasticity in one direction and ferroelasticity in two other directions in a single crystal of 1,3‐bis(4‐methoxyphenyl)urea. The crystal can undergo stepwise twinning and ferroelastically forms various shapes with multiple domains oriented in different directions, thereby affording a crystal that shows superelasticity in multiple directions. This adaptability and shape recoverability in a ferroelastic and superelastic single crystal under ambient conditions are of great importance in future applications of organic crystals as mechanical materials, such as in soft robotics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As altering permanent shapes without loss of material function is of practical importance for material molding, especially for elastic materials, shape‐rememorization ability would enhance the utility of elastic crystalline materials. Since diffusionless plastic deformability can preserve the crystallinity of materials, the interconversion of diffusionless mechanical deformability between superelasticity and ferroelasticity could enable shape rememorization of superelastic single crystals. This study demonstrates the shape rememorization of an organosuperelastic single crystal of 1,4‐dicyanobenzene through time‐reversible interconversion of superelasticity–ferroelasticity relaxation by holding the mechanically twinned crystal without heating. The shape‐rememorization ability of the organosuperelastic crystal indicates the compatibility of superelasticity (antiferroelasticity) and ferroelasticity as well as the intrinsic workability of organic crystalline materials capable of recovering their crystal functions under mild conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ferroelasticity has been relatively well-studied in mechanically robust inorganic atomic solids but poorly investigated in organic crystals, which are typically inherently fragile. The absence of precise methods for the mechanical analysis of small crystals has, no doubt, impeded research on organic ferroelasticity. The first example of ferroelasticity in an organic molecular crystal of 5-chloro-2-nitroaniline is presented, with thorough characterization by macro- and microscopic methods. The observed cyclic stress-strain curve satisfies the requirements of ferroelasticity. Single-crystal X-ray structure analysis provides insight into lattice correspondence at the twining interface, which enables substantial crystal bending by a large molecular orientational shift. This deformation represents the highest maximum strain (115.9 %) among reported twinning materials, and the associated dissipated energy density of 216 kJ m−3 is relatively large, which suggests that this material is potentially useful as a mechanical damping agent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In solid-state science, most changing phenomena have been mysterious. Furthermore, the changes in chemical composition should be added to mere physical changes to also cover the chemical changes. Here, the first success in characterizing the nature of gas inclusion in a single crystal is reported. The gas inclusion process has been thoroughly investigated by in situ optical microscopy, single-crystal X-ray diffraction analyses, and gas adsorption measurements. The results demonstrated an inclusion action of a first-order transition behavior induced by a critical concentration on the phase boundary. The transfer of phase boundary and included gas are strongly related. This relationship can generate the dynamic features hidden in the inclusion phenomena, which can lead to the guest capturing and transfer mechanism that can apply to spatiotemporal inclusion applications by using host solids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel microporous single crystal of [Cu(ii)2(1-NA)4(pyz)]n (1-NA: 1-naphthoate, pyz: pyrazine) exhibited bending and straightening action on a macroscopic scale during the first-order crystal phase transition induced by methanol vapor sorption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Superelastic materials (crystal-to-crystal transformation pseudo elasticity) that consist of organic components have not been observed since superelasticity was discovered in a Au-Cd alloy in 1932. Superelastic materials have been exclusively developed in metallic or inorganic covalent solids, as represented by Ti-Ni alloys. Organosuperelasticity is now revealed in a pure organic crystal of terephthalamide, which precisely produces a large motion with high repetition and high energy storage efficiency. This process is driven by a small shear stress owing to the low density of strain energy related to the low lattice energy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Soft crystals exhibiting luminescence chromism based on stress magnitude are reviewed. • Some ground crystalline solids spontaneously recover initial luminescence property. • Ultra-high pressure reducing π-π stacking distance can control luminescence color. • Bending elastic crystals can cause reversible luminescence chromism. • "Superelastochromism" by reversible crystal-to-crystal phase transfer is reviewed. Mechano-responsive luminescence, or mechanochromic luminescence (MCL), is a type of luminescence that can be reversibly controlled by the addition of mechanical stimuli. Organic materials exhibiting MCL have been an ongoing area of development since the early 2000s, and the number of reports into such materials has been steadily increasing. While the majority of MCL systems rely on the brittle nature of organic crystalline solids, there is a growing interest in "flexible" organic crystals that exhibit mechanical bending or shape deformation owing to their elasticity/plasticity. Such non-destructive deformed crystals may exhibit a new type of MCL that can be controlled by the magnitude of the force stress. In this review, we describe MCL systems capable of the spontaneous recovery of changes in their luminescent properties in response to the loading/unloading of mechanical stress. We particularly focus on the MCL of flexible crystals based on the density gradient of molecular packing (i.e., elastic and plastic crystals) and an emerging system known as "superelastochromism," which is based on spontaneously reversible crystal polymorphism. This emerging research area has the potential to play an important role in the promotion of next-generation soft crystals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel inclusion crystal, {[Rh(II)2(bza)4(pyz)]n · 3n(N2O)} (1), was prepared and characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis; linear alignment (N2O)n coherently generates in the channels of host rhodium benzoate pyrazine and there is a high possibility of the existence of an intermediate phase induced by a slight amount of adsorbed N2O inside the crystal even at room temperature. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The adsorption behavior of a single-crystal host [Cu2(bza)4(pyz)]nunder vapor was studied by adsorption measurements and single-crystal X-ray analyses, demonstrating the sharp replacement of the included guest by mixing the surrounding vapor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By the addition of a "leverage" mechanism in a host component of a metal-organic crystal, a channel-switching property was developed in a porous single-crystal adsorbent driven by incorporated guest gas stress, which may provide new single-crystal devices with the active controllability of anisotropic guest diffusivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study which describes the anistropic permeation properties of gases through a single-crystalline membrane. It states that in the X-ray structural analysis, gas permeability on the channel direction and barrier properties vertical to the direction were observed in the single-crystal membrane, which corresponds to the measured permeability. It concludes the successful permeation of various gases over one-dimensional channels, despite the narrow diameter of sample gases.

Abstract: The crystalline one-dimensional compounds, [M2(bza)4(pyz)] n (bza=benzoate; pyz=pyrazine; M=CuII (1)) and [M2(bza)4(2-mpyz)] n (2-mpyz=2-methylpyrazine; M=RhII (2), CuII (3)), demonstrate gas absorbency of NO. The amounts of adsorbed NO gas are 0.61 for 1, 0.30 for 2, and 0.23 for 3 per M2 unit at 195K (800Torr). The crystals of 1 adsorbed more NO molecules than did those of 2 and 3. The magnetic susceptibilities of the NO-inclusion crystals indicate that included NO molecules interact antiferromagnetically with neighboring guests without dimerization to N2O2. Magnetic behaviors indicated NO aggregation in the narrow 1D channels of 1–3 under unsaturated adsorption conditions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]