Mesoscale clusters of organic solutes in solution and their role in crystal nucleation

Abstract

It is becoming evident that primary nucleation of crystals of organic molecules from solution is often anything but ‘classical’ in its complexity. It is also becoming increasingly clear that mesoscopic clusters of molecules are at least partly involved in the phenomenon. On-going advances are rapidly enabling these clusters to be investigated with ever more accuracy. However, despite numerous recent studies, fundamental knowledge of the properties, thermodynamics and kinetics of these clusters, and of their role in nucleation, is still limited.