In situ investigations of mechanochemical syntheses: New insights in formation pathways
- Mechanochemistry is increasingly used for synthesizing soft matter materials including metal organic compounds and cocrystals.1,2 The ever-increasing interest in this method is contrasted by a limited mechanistic understanding of the mechanochemical reactivity and selectivity. Time-resolved in situ investigations of milling reactions provide direct insights in the underlying mechanisms.3,4 We recently introduced a setup enabling in situ investigation of mechanochemical reactions using synchrotron XRD combined with Raman spectroscopy (Fig.1a) The specific combination allows to study milling processes comprehensively on the level of the molecular and crystalline structure and thus obtaining reliable data for mechanistic studies. In this talk I will discuss our recent results investigating the formation of (polymorphic) cocrystals.