Controlling Spatial Distributions of Molecules in Multicomponent Organic Crystals, with Quantitative Mapping by Confocal Raman Microspectrometry

We report four experimental strategies for controlling the three-dimensional arrangement of molecules in multicomponent organic crystals, exploiting confocal Raman microspectrometry to quantify the three-dimensional spatial distributions. Specifically, we focus on controlling the distribution of two types of guest molecule in solid organic inclusion compounds to produce composite core–shell crystals, crystals with a homogeneous distribution of the components, crystals with continuous compositional variation from the core to the surface, and crystals with alternating shells of the components. In this context, confocal Raman microspectrometry is particularly advantageous over optical microscopy as it is nondestructive, offers micrometric spatial resolution, and relies only on the component molecules having different vibrational properties.