Molecules in crystals

Hirshfeld surface analysis has developed from the serendipitous discovery of a novel partitioning of the crystal electron density into discrete molecular fragments, to a suite of computational tools used widely for the identification, analysis and discussion of intermolecular interactions in molecular crystals. The relationship between the Hirshfeld surface and very early ideas on the internal structure of crystals is outlined, and applications of Hirshfeld surface analysis are presented for three molecules of historical importance in the development of modern x-ray crystallography: hexamethylbenzene, hexamethylenetetramine and diketopiperazine.