Developing the application of the crystal sponge technique

The Crystal Sponge approach soaks an uncrystallisable compound eg an oil, into a porous crystal - the combined crystal structure of the host and 'uncrystallisable' guest can then be determined. This approach has been adopted by the pharmaceutical industry but not taken up in academia. This PhD will explore the feasibility of applying this approach to entirely new areas of research that otherwise would not have considered the use of crystallography.
The studentship sits in the middle of an industry-academia project (Merck & Rigaku with UoS) to explore he academic applicability of the technique, an EPSRC Impact Acceleration Account project to engage new user communities and the establishment of this technique as part of the National Crystallography Service offering.
The studentship will firstly explore new application areas for the technique with the commercially available crystal sponge. This will begin through collaboration with UoS research groups in molecular machines and supramolecular chemistry (Goldup) and organic synthesis (Linclau, Harrowven, Brown & Whitby) and ultimately spread further in the chemistry department (Chemical Biology section) and wider than UoS through these group contacts.
The studentship will go on to investigate purity requirements for the technique and develop a methodology and protocol for routinely preparing an 'as provided' sample for soaking into a sponge.
Having acquired a library of crystal sponge structures, the truly ambitious aspect of the project will look at energy calculations to understand interaction between host and guest so that mechanisms of adsorption can be postulated and new sponges designed.