This paper describes the program PolaBer, which calculates atomic polarizability tensors from electric field perturbations of a partitioned electron density distribution. Among many possible partitioning schemes, PolaBer is currently using the quantum theory of atoms in molecules and it is interfaced to programs that apply such a partitioning. The calculation of the atomic tensors follows the idea suggested by Keith [The Quantum Theory of Atoms in Molecules: From Solid State to DNA and Drug Design, (2007), edited by C. F. Matta & R. J. Boyd. Weinheim: Wiley‐VCH], which enables the removal of the intrinsic origin dependence of the atomic charge contributions to the molecular dipole moment. This scheme allows the export, within chemically equivalent functional groups, of properties calculated from atomic dipoles, such as for example the atomic polarizabilities. The software permits visualization of the tensors and calculation of straightforward optical properties of a molecule (like the molar refractive index) or a crystal (assuming the molecule in a given crystal lattice).

With the purpose of rational design of optical materials, distributed atomic polarizabilities of amino acid molecules and their hydrogen-bonded aggregates are calculated in order to identify the most efficient functional groups, able to buildup larger electric susceptibilities in crystals.Moreover, we carefully analyze how the atomic polarizabilities depend on the one-electron basis set or the many-electron Hamiltonian, including both wave function and density functional theory methods. This is useful for selecting the level of theory that best combines high accuracy and low computational costs, very important in particular when using the cluster method to estimate susceptibilities of molecular-based materials.KEYWORDS: distributed polarizability, quantum theory of atoms in molecules, electron density distribution, linear optical properties, hydrogen bonding.2

The crystal structures of three polymorphs found for the addition complex of urea and barbituric acid are described and compared. Two polymorphs are monoclinic, space groups P2(1)/c and Cc, whereas the third is triclinic, P1. The displacement of electron density towards the mesomeric forms, corresponding to the tautomeric forms of higher stability, of the barbituric acid molecule seem to influence the type of hydrogen bonds formed, which in turn determines the different packing topology in the polymorphs. While the polymorphic forms can be easily differentiated at the first-level graph-set analysis of their hydrogen-bonding patterns, a higher-level analysis enables important features of the mutual spatial arrangement of the structural components to be revealed.

Functional materials that respond to chemical or physical stimuli through reversible structural transformations are highly desirable for the integration into devices. Now, a new stable and flexible eightfold interpenetrated three‐dimensional (3D) metal–organic framework (MOF) is reported, [Zn(oba)(pip)]n (JUK‐8) based on 4,4′‐oxybis(benzenedicarboxylate) (oba) and 4‐pyridyl functionalized benzene‐1,3‐dicarbohydrazide (pip) linkers, featuring distinct switchability in response to guest molecules (H2O and CO2) or temperature. Single‐crystal X‐ray diffraction (SC‐XRD), combined with density functional theory (DFT) and grand canonical Monte Carlo (GCMC) simulations, reveal a unique breathing mechanism involving collective motions of eight mixed‐linker diamondoid subnetworks with only minor displacements between them. The pronounced stepwise volume change of JUK‐8 during water adsorption is used to construct an electron conducting composite film for resistive humidity sensing.

The possibility to determine electron-density distribution in crystals has been an enormous breakthrough, stimulated by a favourable combination of equipment for X-ray and neutron diffraction at low temperature, by the development of simplified, though accurate, electron-density models refined from the experimental data and by the progress in charge density analysis often in combination with theoretical work. Many years after the first successful charge density determination and analysis, scientists face new challenges, for example: (i) determination of the finer details of the electron-density distribution in the atomic cores, (ii) simultaneous refinement of electron charge and spin density or (iii) measuring crystals under perturbation. In this context, the possibility of obtaining experimental charge density at high pressure has recently been demonstrated [Casati et al. (2016). Nat. Commun. 7, 10901]. This paper reports on the necessities and pitfalls of this new challenge, focusing on the species syn-1,6:8,13-biscarbonyl[14]annulene. The experimental requirements, the expected data quality and data corrections are discussed in detail, including warnings about possible shortcomings. At the same time, new modelling techniques are proposed, which could enable specific information to be extracted, from the limited and less accurate observations, like the degree of localization of double bonds, which is fundamental to the scientific case under examination.