Chiral Crystals of an Achiral Molecule Exhibit Plastic Bending and a Crystal-to-Crystal Phase Transition

What is it about?

The achiral molecule Me2pmCN meets simple criteria that predict a supramolecular arrangement capable of exhibiting plastic bending. Crystals grown by sublimation bend readily without breaking under manual manipulation at room temperature. Compression of a crystal perpendicular to the bending direction easily "squashes" the crystal, a mechanical response akin to metal-like malleability.

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Why is it important?

This is a nice example of how molecular structure can be a predictor of physical properties of a supramolecular arrangement. Even with lots of "chemical handles", there are no strong intermolecular interactions, so pi-stacking dominates and the crystals are really bendy.