Unveiling the self-association and desolvation in crystal nucleation

As the first step in the crystallization process, nucleation has been studied by many researchers. In this work, phenacetin (PHEN) was selected as a model compound to investigate the relationship between the solvent and nucleation kinetics. Induction times at different supersaturation in six solvents were measured. FTIR and NMR spectroscopy were employed to explore the solvent-solute interactions and the self-association properties in solution. Density functional theory (DFT) was adopted to evaluate the strength of solute-solvent interactions and the molecular conformations in different solvents. Based on these spectroscopy data, molecular simulation and nucleation kinetic results, a comprehensive understanding of the relationship between molecular structure, crystal structure, solution chemistry and nucleation dynamics is discussed. Both the solute-solvent interaction strength and the supramolecular structure formed by the self-association of solute molecules affect the nucleation rate. The findings reported here shed new light on the molecular mechanism of nucleation in solution.

Automated summary

By studying the solute-solvent interactions and self-association properties in solution using spectroscopy and DFT, researchers were able to gain a comprehensive understanding of the relationship between molecular structure, crystal structure, solution chemistry, and nucleation dynamics. The findings suggest that both solute-solvent interaction strength and supramolecular structure formed by self-association of solute molecules play a significant role in nucleation rate. This sheds new light on the molecular mechanism of nucleation in solution.