Crystal desolvation induced by polymer-assisted grinding

Mechanochemistry is a relatively new discipline defined by IUPAC as "one of the ten most important chemistry innovations that will change the world". Indeed, several independent studies have demonstrated that the use of mechanical force to induce and sustain chemical transformations is often superior to other more consolidated approaches. Mechanochemical reactions performed in the presence of catalytic amounts of a polymer (polymer –assisted grinding, POLAG1) are particularly interesting since the added polymer gives additional suitable conditions for the obtainment of the desired solid form. Specifically to the multi-component mixtures, solids that are omnipresent in materials science, the understanding of the overall stability and a mechanistic explanation of several phenomena related to their formation and/or production is often difficult. In this talk, I investigate at the molecular level the mechanisms of solid state desolvation of solvated/hydrated systems where mixing of the ingredients in the presence of polymers is accelerated through mechanochemistry. An efficient combination of experimental and computational experiments can reveal the types of interactions among the different components that are relevant for driving the solid state reaction towards the desired product. Whilst focusing on model systems, these studies provide an important guideline of the steps that need to be taken for understanding the mechanisms involved in solid state reactions. Furthermore, such examples open new possibilities for understanding solid state reactions than can subsequently be used for real-world applications. Finally, desolvation through POLAG method can accelerate the search for solid forms and is widely applicable to different types of solid mixtures for optimizing a variety of properties.