Structural Elucidation of Trace Amounts of Volatile Compounds Using the Crystalline Sponge Method

• Published in: Chemistry, an Asian journal Vol. 12; no. 10; pp. 1057 - 1061
• Main Authors: Zigon, Nicolas, Kikuchi, Takashi, Ariyoshi, Junko, Inokuma, Yasuhide, Fujita, Makoto
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Germany Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 18.05.2017; Wiley-VCH Verlag
• Subjects: Chemical Sciences; Chemistry; Crystal structure; crystalline sponge method; Gas chromatography; Odors; Organic compounds; porous coordination polymers; VOCs; Volatile compounds; Volatile organic compounds; X-ray crystallography; X-ray crystallography; volatile compounds; porous coordination polymers; gas chromatography; crystalline sponge method
• ISSN: 1861-4728; 1861-471X
• DOI: 10.1002/asia.201700515

Volatile organic compounds are widely present as scents and odors in our daily lives and are readily found in a variety of natural extracts. Because these compounds are highly volatile and usually available only in minute quantities, little attention has been paid to X‐ray diffraction as a technique for their structure determination. Here, we show that the structures of volatile organic compounds are easily elucidated using minute quantities of the compounds and the crystalline sponge method. The compound vapors can be directly absorbed into the sponge crystals, or alternatively, preparative gas chromatography can be used to separate the desired compound from a natural mixture. From vapor to crystal structure: The crystalline sponge method has been applied to the characterization of volatile compounds by X‐ray crystallography. Combined with preparative gas‐chromatographic separation, this method allows the compounds to be analyzed on the microgram scale without conventional isolation, purification, and, most importantly, crystallization.