| Abstract: | A closer look at stories of polymorphic crystals that “appear, ” then “disappear, ” and then ”reappear” again shows that there are no magical mysteries involved. Instead it is the complex interaction between thermodynamics and kinetics that makes the process of crystallization so complex that the experimental results can be almost unbelievable. Clearly the chemists' work is not finished with the pure synthesis, as polymorphic crystals of a new compound have properties which are so different that they might be quite promising one time or undesirable the next. As is true for all fields of chemistry, growing the 'right' crystal form is both a science and an art. Sometimes, though, the mystery that remains is like magic itself. |
