Chemistry of Dynamic and Smart Molecular Crystals

Recently, molecular crystals exhibiting dynamic behavior in response to external stimuli have emerged as critical areas of research within crystal engineering, solid-state organic and inorganic chemistry, and organic materials chemistry. Such molecular crystals often demonstrate exceptional mechanical flexibility, undergoing bending, twisting, or reshaping when subjected to mechanical forces. Furthermore, certain crystals exhibit fascinating stress-release phenomena, including cracking, bursting, exploding, jumping, or crawling—behaviors governed by their intrinsic molecular arrangements or triggered by chemical reactions initiated by external stimuli (such as heat, light, vapor, moisture).

Dynamic crystals hold remarkable potential for developing advanced smart materials applicable to innovative actuators, artificial muscles, responsive sensors, and smart devices with tunable or adaptive properties. Moreover, the unique capabilities of flexible molecular crystals for controlling and guiding spatially targeted light signals open exciting opportunities for emerging technologies in photonics, optoelectronics, and sensor applications.

This Research Topic aims to bring together innovative and recent advances in the design, synthesis, structural characterization, and application of molecular crystals, cocrystals, metal complexes, and metal-organic hybrid materials displaying robust dynamic and stimuli-responsive features. Special emphasis will be placed on the newest methodologies and crystal-engineering approaches that yield materials responding distinctly to one or multiple external stimuli, including mechanical force, heat, light, vapor, or moisture.

The proposed Research Topic will thus serve as a valuable resource connecting researchers across chemical disciplines, including organic, inorganic, materials chemistry, solid-state chemistry, and crystal engineering, as well as bridging to physics and materials science communities.

We welcome submissions in the form of Original Research, Reviews, Mini Reviews, and Perspectives covering themes such as:

o Molecular crystal engineering and structure determination via single-crystal X-ray diffraction
o Pure organic crystals and multicomponent cocrystals
o Discrete metal complexes, coordination polymers, and organic-inorganic hybrid materials
o Solid-state photochemical reactions and reactivity
o Photosalient and thermosalient phenomena in molecular crystals
o Stimuli-responsive molecular crystalline materials
o Mechanically flexible crystals: synthesis, characterization, and mechanistic studies
o Crystal-based optical waveguides and photonic materials
o Structure-property relationships in dynamic crystalline systems

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• FAIR² DATA Direct Submission
• Mini Review
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Review

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• FAIR² DATA Direct Submission
• Mini Review
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Review

Keywords: molecular crystals, crystal engineering, photosalient effect, thermosalient effect, stimuli-responsive, flexibility, metal-organic hybrids, smart materials, solid-state chemistry

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.