Generation of crystal structures using known crystal structures as analogues

Fabrication of Functional bioMOF-100 Prototype as Drug Delivery System for Breast Cancer Therapy

Breast cancer is the most frequent cause of cancer death in women, representing the fifth leading cause of cancer death overall. Therefore, the growing search for the development of new treatments for breast cancer has been developed lately as well as drug delivery systems such as biocompatible metal-organic Frameworks (bio-MOFs). These may be promising and attractive for drug incorporation and release. The present study aims to develop a drug carrier system RCA (bioMOF-100 submitted to the activation process) containing incorporated curcumin (CCM), whose material surface is coated with folic acid molecules (FA) to promote the targeting of drug carrier systems to the tumor region. They were synthesized and characterized using several characterization techniques. The materials were submitted to drug encapsulation tests, whose encapsulation efficiency was 32.80% for CCM@RCA-1D. Using the ¹H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy technique, it was possible to verify the appearance of signals referring to folic acid, suggesting success in the functionalization of these matrices. In vitro tests such as cell viability and type of cell death were evaluated in both series of compounds (CCM@RCA-1D, CCM@RCA-1D/FA) in breast tumor lines. The results revealed low toxicity of the materials and cell death by late apoptosis. Thus, these results indicate that the matrices studied can be promising carriers in the treatment of breast cancer.

A strategy for predicting the crystal structure of energetic N-oxides based on molecular similarity and electrostatic matching

A strategy for crystal structure prediction of high energy materials was proposed based on “homologous crystals”.

Interplay between Polymorphism and Isostructurality in the 2-Fur- and 2-Thenaldehyde Semi- and Thiosemicarbazones

The four compounds, namely: 5-nitro-2-furaldehyde thiosemicarbazone (1); 5-nitro-2-thiophene thiosemicarbazone (2); 5-nitro-2-furaldehyde semicarbazone (3); and 5-nitro-2-thiophene semicarbazone (4) were synthesized and crystallized. The three new crystal structures of 1, 2, and 4 were determined and compared to three already known crystal structures of 3. Additionally, two new polymorphic forms of 1 solvate were synthesized and studied. The influence of the exchange of 2-thiophene to 2-furaldehyde as well as thiosemicarbazone and semicarbazone on the self-assembly of supramolecular nets was elucidated and discussed in terms of the formed synthons and assemblies accompanied by Full Interaction Maps analysis. Changes in the strength of IR oscillators caused by the molecular and crystal packing effects are described and explained in terms of changes of electron density.

Machine learning for molecular and materials science

Here we summarize recent progress in machine learning for the chemical sciences. We outline machine-learning techniques that are suitable for addressing research questions in this domain, as well as future directions for the field. We envisage a future in which the design, synthesis, characterization and application of molecules and materials is accelerated by artificial intelligence.

Is zeroth order crystal structure prediction (CSP_0) coming to maturity? What should we aim for in an ideal crystal structure prediction code?

Crystal structure prediction based on searching for the global minimum in the lattice energy (CSP_0) is growing in use for guiding the discovery of new materials, for example, new functional materials, new phases of interest to planetary scientists and new polymorphs relevant to pharmaceutical development. This Faraday Discussion can assess the progress of CSP_0 over the range of types of materials to which CSP is currently and could be applied, which depends on our ability to model the variety of interatomic forces in crystals. The basic hypothesis, that the outcome of crystallisation is determined by thermodynamics, needs examining by considering methods of modelling relative thermodynamic stability not only as a function of pressure and temperature, but also of size, solvent and the presence of heterogeneous templates or impurities (CSP_thd). Given that many important materials persist, and indeed may be formed, when they are not the most thermodynamically stable structure, we need to define what would be required of an ideal CSP code (CSP_aim).

Pressure-driven phase transition mechanisms revealed by quantum chemistry: l-serine polymorphs

The present study delivers a computational approach for the understanding of the mechanism of phase transitions between polymorphs of small organic molecules.