Additive induced polymorphous behavior of a conformationally locked hexol

Abstract

The influence of molecular additives on the crystal structure adopted by a C_2h symmetric, conformationally locked hexol 2 forms the object of the present study. It has been observed that the polycyclitol 2 crystallizes in two polymorphic (α and β forms) and one pseudopolymorphic (monohydrate) modification, depending on the presence and nature of the additive employed. Thus, with the sole exception of trimesic acid, which induces 2 to crystallize in the denser β form, the molecular additives screened in this study either failed to promote polymorphism in 2 or caused it to crystallize as a monohydrate. The putative role of trimesic acid in providing an alternate crystallization pathway to the polyol 2 has been discussed.