Zeitschrift fur Kristallographie-Crystalline Materials

The creation of modulated monoclinic aperiodic composites in -alkane/urea compounds
Mariette C, Guérin L, Rabiller P, Chen YS, Bosak A, Popov A, Hollingsworth MD and Toudic B
-Dodecane/urea is a member of the prototype series of -alkane/urea inclusion compounds. At room temperature, it presents a quasi-one dimensional liquid-like state for the confined guest molecules within the rigid, hexagonal framework of the urea host. At lower temperatures, we report the existence of two other phases. Below T=248 K there appears a phase with rank four superspace group P622(00γ), the one typically observed at room temperature in -alkane/urea compounds with longer guest molecules. A misfit parameter, defined by the ratio γ= / (/), is found to be 0.632±0.005. Below T=123 K, a monoclinic modulated phase is created with a constant shift along of the guest molecules in adjacent channels. The maximal monoclinic space group for this structure is P121(α0γ). Analogies and differences with -heptane/urea, which also presents a monoclinic, modulated low-temperature phase, are discussed.