books & arts engineering comes of age

Crystal Engineering: What has happened since is crystal clear: meeting held in India because the authors A Textbook has facilitated the rapid are native Indians, and India has been at the development of new classes of compound cutting edge of crystal engineering research By Gautam R. Desiraju, that have practical utility, such as porous for more than two decades. Jagadese J. Vittal and coordination — aka –organic As the title indicates, Crystal Engineering: Arunachalam Ramanan frameworks (MOFs) — and pharmaceutical A Textbook aims to serve as an introductory co-, which today represent two of the textbook rather than a reference book. It IISC PRESS AND WORLD most active, high-impact areas in . comprises seven well-balanced chapters, SCIENTIFIC PUBLISHING: Pictured is MOF-5, in which ZnO4 each of which concludes with a set of 2011. 216PP. £65.00 tetrahedra are linked together by benzene problems that are suitable for use in dicarboxylate ligands, forming an extended teaching. The first chapter provides a 3D network with accessible pores. historical perspective that covers the development of crystal engineering and of nce upon a time, a certain well- cognate areas such as X-ray , known editor of a certain high-profile and properties Ojournal opined on the subject of of crystals. This chapter reminds us that crystal prediction by asserting that the foundations of crystal engineering were it was scandalous that -state chemists not laid in 1989, and ensures giants such and materials scientists could not predict as Schmidt, Dunitz, Kitaigorodsky, Pauling crystal from a priori knowledge and Wöhler receive appropriate credit. of chemical composition (J. Maddox, Nature Chapters 2–4 are titled ‘Intermolecular 335, 201; 1988). Just one year later, almost as Interactions’, ‘Crystal Design Strategies’, if in response, Gautam Desiraju’s book titled and ‘ and ’, Crystal Engineering: The Design of Organic respectively. These chapters provide the (Elsevier, 1989) was published. background knowledge that is needed to In hindsight, these two events were practice crystal engineering and could watershed moments for the immediate and stand alone for use in other courses. rapid development of crystal engineering, Chapters 5–7 cover three subjects of topical which, it should be noted, overlaps very little importance to contemporary materials with prediction. Rather, SCIENTIFIC © WORLD science and are titled ‘Polymorphism’, crystal engineering focuses on the synthesis ‘Multi-Component Crystals’ and of new classes of crystalline materials from A sign that crystal engineering has ‘Coordination Polymers’, respectively. first principles through a strategy that uses come of age was the holding of the first These chapters make extensive use of as if they were Lego building Gordon Research Conference on crystal case studies to highlight concepts and blocks. Desiraju’s definition of crystal engineering in June 2010. This meeting define nomenclature, but not in a manner engineering was apt in 1989 and it has boasted the highest ever first-time that takes sides where there is ambiguity stood the test of time well: “understanding attendance for a Gordon Conference and about terminology. The book concludes of intermolecular interactions in the demonstrated that crystal engineering with a glossary of terms, a tabulation of context of crystal packing and utilization covers all types of molecular building crystallographic space groups, a list of of such understanding in the design of block, that it is international in scope useful websites and a list of recommended new solids with desired physical and and that it has reached the ‘end of the reading. The latter is of note because chemical properties”. beginning’ as crystal engineers have citations are otherwise absent. developed a powerful toolbox in the The length ofCrystal Engineering: A Crystal engineering has reached context of crystal design. The focus has Textbook, its modest price, its fair and naturally shifted from design to properties, balanced treatment of topics, and its the ‘end of the beginning’. and this means that there is now a need breadth and style make it perfectly suited to for crystal engineering to be more broadly serve as a one-semester course to introduce It would be fair to assert that there was taught and not just to the next generation crystal engineering to undergraduate or not a lot of respect for crystal engineering of crystal engineers. first-year graduate students in chemistry or back then. Indeed, most chemists and The second sign of the coming of age of . It effectively addresses a materials scientists would have considered crystal engineering is represented by the need that has been created by the explosive even the idea of crystal engineering to be publication of the first textbook devoted to growth of crystal engineering research in an oxymoron as crystals were generally the subject. Crystal Engineering: A Textbook the past two decades. ❐ regarded as being a consequence of ‘nature was released on 28 June 2011 at the 20th abhors a vacuum’, and unusual features International Conference on the Chemistry REVIEWED BY MICHAEL J. ZAWOROTKO of crystal structure were often explained of the Organic Solid State (ICCOSS XX) away as being ‘the result of crystal in Bangalore, India. It is appropriate that Michael Zaworotko is a Professor of Chemistry at packing effects’. the book was released at an international the University of South Florida.

NATURE CHEMISTRY | VOL 3 | SEPTEMBER 2011 | www.nature.com/naturechemistry 653

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