Expansions of supramolecular chemistry

Abstract

Crystal engineering has matured into a design-driven field based on the exploitation of reliable interactions between the functional groups of molecules so as to achieve desired properties. The utility of crystal engineering has been realized in a breadth of fields and, as a microcosm of crystal engineering, this thesis will explore the application of crystal engineering in the pharmaceutical sciences, nanotechnology, synthetic chemistry, materials science, and biomedical imaging.As the trend in drug development continues to skew towards molecules with poor aqueous solubility the ability improve the physicochemical properties of a pharmaceutical agent, especially via non-covalent means, has become crucial. One method to impart improved physiochemical properties to pharmaceutical agents is through cocrystallization. A portion of this thesis will focus on the design-driven development of pharmaceutical cocrystals so as to impart improved mechanical properties to acetaminophen. As part of our investigation, we observed unexpected intermolecular interactions between the constituents of our cocrystals, which will contribute to the continued development of crystal engineering. In addition, we are interested in developing a methodology for the reliable fabrication of organic nanocrystals based on multi-component solids. Whereas the field of inorganic nanocrystals has blossomed, organic nanocrystals have remained largely underdeveloped. To expand the field of organic nanocrystals we turned to the synthesis of pharmaceutical nano-cocrystals.Specifically, we determined a sonochemical approach combined with multiple solvents and a surfactant could effectively synthesize pharmaceutical nano-cocrystals. As part of our desire to synthesize complex, multi-component, organic nanocrystals we also investigated the ability of a sonochemical approach to synthesize host-guest nanocrystals.In particular, the results demonstrated that sonochemistry successfully fabricates nano-Abstract Approved: _______________________________________ Thesis Supervisor _______________________________________