Crystal Growth & DesignPub Date : 2026-10-07Epub Date: 2026-09-22DOI: 10.1021/acs.cgd.6c00803
Marija Cvetnić, Marin Liović, Robert Šplajt, Edi Topić, Mirta Rubčić, Mihails Arhangelskis, Nikola Bregović
{"title":"Probing Multiple Reaction Pathways in Solid-State Acid−Base Chemistry by Isothermal Solid-State Calorimetry","authors":"Marija Cvetnić, Marin Liović, Robert Šplajt, Edi Topić, Mirta Rubčić, Mihails Arhangelskis, Nikola Bregović","doi":"10.1021/acs.cgd.6c00803","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.cgd.6c00803","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Isothermal solid-state calorimetry (ISSC) was applied to directly quantify reaction enthalpies in the solid state for acid−base reactions involving 4-(dimethylamino)pyridine (DMAP) and benzoic (BzH) or salicylic acid (SalH) at 25 °C. Solid-state reactions between DMAP and excess acid, with a small amount of added liquid, led to rapid, quantitative conversion to new crystalline phases, accompanied by well-defined calorimetric signals. Depending on the reactant molar ratio in the calorimetric cell, salt or salt cocrystals were obtained, with the BzH system exhibiting a more complex reactivity landscape, including a novel multicomponent salt cocrystal (DMAPH<sup>+</sup>)<sub>2</sub>Bz<sup>−</sup><sub>2</sub>(BzH)<sub>3</sub>. Reaction enthalpies determined directly by calorimetry were consistent across different synthetic routes and agreed well with values derived from thermodynamic cycles and periodic DFT calculations. The results demonstrated that ISSC enabled direct determination of solid-state reaction enthalpies and provided valuable thermodynamic insight into competing reaction outcomes in this rather elaborate acid−base reaction system.</p>","PeriodicalId":34,"journal":{"name":"Crystal Growth & Design","volume":"26 19","pages":"7683–7691"},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2026-10-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149093705","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Crystal Growth & DesignPub Date : 2026-10-07Epub Date: 2026-09-24DOI: 10.1021/acs.cgd.6c00702
Dasuni N. Rathnaweera, Allana G. Iwanicki, Brenden R. Ortiz, Satya K. Kushwaha, Martin Mourigal, Tyrel M. McQueen, Thao T. Tran
{"title":"From Scarcity to Quality: Tailored Laser-Diode Floating-Zone Growth of Small-Mass Isotope-Enriched 160GdRu2Ge2 Skyrmion Crystals","authors":"Dasuni N. Rathnaweera, Allana G. Iwanicki, Brenden R. Ortiz, Satya K. Kushwaha, Martin Mourigal, Tyrel M. McQueen, Thao T. Tran","doi":"10.1021/acs.cgd.6c00702","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.cgd.6c00702","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Access to sizable, high-quality single crystals plays a seminal role in advancing the frontier of materials research, with both fundamental and technological applications. Centrosymmetric Gd-based magnetic metals represent a promising platform for realizing topologically nontrivial magnetic states, such as skyrmions, with excellent potential for high-density, low-power spintronics. Despite the availability of numerous conventional crystal growth techniques for these materials, methods that can produce scarce, isotopically enriched crystals remain limited. Here, we demonstrate tailored laser-diode floating-zone growth that enables the preparation of centimeter-sized, high-quality <sup>160</sup>GdRu<sub>2</sub>Ge<sub>2</sub> single crystals using a fraction (∼10%) of the starting material required by traditional methods. Results from single-crystal X-ray diffraction, back-reflection Laue X-ray diffraction, SEM, and elemental analysis reveal phase-pure, single-crystal grains. Magnetization measurements for <sup>160</sup>GdRu<sub>2</sub>Ge<sub>2</sub> confirm skyrmion phase transitions. Our work establishes a feasible pathway for the successful growth and processing of high-value materials with scarce isotopes or limited sample availability, furthering insights into physical phenomena through spectroscopy and other characterization techniques while broadening opportunities for technological integration.</p>","PeriodicalId":34,"journal":{"name":"Crystal Growth & Design","volume":"26 19","pages":"7660–7666"},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2026-10-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149093686","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Crystal Growth & DesignPub Date : 2026-10-07Epub Date: 2026-09-27DOI: 10.1021/acs.cgd.6c00616
Atsuya Iwasaki, Yuho Moriyama, Suguru Ito
{"title":"A C3-Symmetric Phloroglucinol Derivative for Tuning the Structures and Luminescence of Solvates","authors":"Atsuya Iwasaki, Yuho Moriyama, Suguru Ito","doi":"10.1021/acs.cgd.6c00616","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.cgd.6c00616","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Organic molecules forming solvates often adopt different molecular conformations depending on the included solvent molecules, leading to variations in their photophysical properties. In this study, a conformationally flexible luminescent phloroglucinol derivative afforded eight solvates upon crystallization from ethyl acetate, chloroform, THF, pyridine, benzene, toluene, <em>o</em>-dichlorobenzene, and iodobenzene solutions. Based on single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis, these solvates were classified into two space groups according to the size of the included solvent molecules: substituted benzene derivatives and smaller solvent molecules. In addition, crystallization from a mixed solution of dichloromethane and cyclohexane yielded a heterosolvate containing two types of solvent molecules, in which distinct cavities corresponding to the size of each solvent molecule were formed. Photophysical investigations confirmed that, although all solvates exhibited yellow to orange emission, a significant shortening of the average fluorescence lifetime was observed in the iodobenzene solvate. These results are expected to support the development of design principles for luminescent crystalline materials in which photophysical properties can be tuned by the choice of crystallization solvent.</p>","PeriodicalId":34,"journal":{"name":"Crystal Growth & Design","volume":"26 19","pages":"7584–7594"},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2026-10-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149125006","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Crystal Growth & DesignPub Date : 2026-10-07Epub Date: 2026-09-25DOI: 10.1021/acs.cgd.6c00859
Ao-Gang Liu, Bao Li
{"title":"Water-Stable Tb-MOF for Highly Sensitive Fluorescent Sensing of Liver Disease Thiol Biomarkers and NOR Logic Gate Operation","authors":"Ao-Gang Liu, Bao Li","doi":"10.1021/acs.cgd.6c00859","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.cgd.6c00859","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The development of efficient and stable fluorescent sensors for the detection of liver disease-related thiol biomarkers is of great clinical significance. In this work, a terbium-based metal−organic framework (Tb-MOF) with robust structure and excellent fluorescence properties was constructed via a solvothermal method. The material exhibited stability in aqueous phase and over a wide pH range, and showed highly selective and sensitive specific fluorescence quenching responses towards three liver disease-associated thiol biomarkers: glutathione (GSH), tiopronin (MPG), and 2-mercaptopropionic acid (MPA), with limits of detection (LODs) of 14.17, 15.01, and 18.79 μM, respectively. Based on the fluorescence on−off effect, a three-input NOR molecular logic gate was successfully fabricated to achieve intelligent logical discrimination of multiple targets. Meanwhile, a Tb-MOF@hydrogel system was developed to realize naked-eye visual detection. Spike recovery experiments in simulated physiological matrices confirmed the reliability of this sensor for practical biological sample detection. Notably, the fluorescence signal in aqueous phase is dominated by the broad-band emission of the ligand rather than the characteristic f−f emission of Tb<sup>3+</sup>. Combined with theoretical calculations, the dominant fluorescence quenching mechanism involving thiol-induced electronic structure reconstruction of the metal cluster and excited-state non-radiative internal conversion was elucidated. This study provides a new strategy for the design of multifunctional and intelligent lanthanide-based MOF biosensing platforms.</p>","PeriodicalId":34,"journal":{"name":"Crystal Growth & Design","volume":"26 19","pages":"7770–7781"},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2026-10-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149093622","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A 1D Co-MOF with Electronic Gating in Ligands for the High-Voltage Cathode of Sodium-Ion Batteries","authors":"Qianfeng Gu, Yuchan Zhang, Zihao Chen, Yinger Xin, Lei Zhang, Jinglun Yang, Linkuo Li, Yuan-Zheng Wang, Zhenjie Yuan, Dan Zhao, Yunsheng Wang, Qichun Zhang","doi":"10.1021/acs.cgd.6c01177","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.cgd.6c01177","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Sodium-ion battery (SIB) cathodes capable of storing both cations and anions offer a promising route to high capacity and high voltage, yet anion intercalation in metal−organic framework (MOF) cathodes remains rarely observed. Here, we report a one-dimensional Co-terephthalate MOF (CityU-84) synthesized at room temperature, which exhibits a wide voltage window of 1.0−4.3 V when evaluated as a cathode in SIBs due to dual-ion intercalation. Ex situ Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) reveal that the framework enables both PF<sub>6</sub><sup>−</sup> intercalation at high voltages during the charging process and Na<sup>+</sup> insertion at low voltages during the discharging process. To elucidate the origin of this dual functionality, we compare CityU-84 using unsubstituted terephthalate with its isostructural halogenated analogues (CityU-85 and CityU-86). Both halogenated MOFs show severely degraded electrochemical performance, demonstrating a ligand electronic gating effect, where electron-withdrawing substituents (e.g., Cl and Br) alter the electronic structure of the coordination framework, weakening both anion and cation interactions. Consequently, CityU-84 delivers a high reversible capacity (178 mAh g<sup>−1</sup>), together with excellent rate capability and outstanding cycling stability (88% capacity retention after 1200 cycles at 200 mA g<sup>−1</sup>). This work demonstrates that electronic gating of ligands enables dual-ion storage in pristine MOF cathodes, providing a promising platform for high-voltage organic electrode materials.</p>","PeriodicalId":34,"journal":{"name":"Crystal Growth & Design","volume":"26 19","pages":"7973–7981"},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2026-10-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149124665","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Crystal Growth & DesignPub Date : 2026-10-07Epub Date: 2026-09-25DOI: 10.1021/acs.cgd.6c01085
Yonghao Wei, Daiming Liu, Guodong Zhang, Fei Wang
{"title":"The Crystallization of Methane Hydrates within Nanoconfined Spaces","authors":"Yonghao Wei, Daiming Liu, Guodong Zhang, Fei Wang","doi":"10.1021/acs.cgd.6c01085","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.cgd.6c01085","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Natural gas hydrates (NGHs) represent a highly promising clean energy source, and clarifying their crystallization mechanisms within nanoconfined spaces is vital for hydrate-based energy exploitation, storage, and transportation. Herein, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were performed to establish a three-phase system comprising methane hydrate, liquid water, and methane gas via the direct phase coexistence technique. The growth and stability characteristics of methane hydrates in unconfined environments against those within graphene slit pores of varying dimensions were systematically compared. Among them, the graphene slit hole model is an idealized nanochannel composed of graphene layers that are placed parallel to each other and have a certain spacing. This ideal model is commonly used to represent the complex internal structure of porous carbon. The results indicate that graphene confinement significantly shortens the induction period of hydrate crystal growth, substantially advancing the onset of the rapid growth phase compared to the bulk system. Driven by wall hydrophobicity and geometric constraints, the hydrates exhibit a distinct growth pattern characterized by interfacial wetting and bulk crystallization. This confinement reduces the lattice order parameter (<em>F</em><sub>4</sub>), keeping the cage structures in a quasi-equilibrium state of dynamic formation and decomposition. Furthermore, evaluating the impacts of pore geometry reveals that increasing the pore length yields sufficient reaction space and a stable growth front, markedly enhancing crystalline integrity and thermodynamic stability. Conversely, narrowing the pore width hinders the restructuring of the water hydrogen-bond network and restricts methane diffusion due to severe confinement effects, which suppresses crystal nucleus growth or even triggers spontaneous decomposition. Overall, this work clarifies the molecular-level mechanisms by which confinement dimensions regulate methane hydrate crystallization kinetics, providing theoretical insights for designing high-performance porous materials for hydrate-based gas storage and transport.</p>","PeriodicalId":34,"journal":{"name":"Crystal Growth & Design","volume":"26 19","pages":"7925–7937"},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2026-10-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149093698","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Crystal Growth & DesignPub Date : 2026-10-07Epub Date: 2026-09-27DOI: 10.1021/acs.cgd.6c01195
Ting-Chieh Hung, Paul Schweer, Karina Morgenstern
{"title":"Formation, Lattice Alignment, and Coalescence of the Moiré Pattern of h-BN-Like Zinc Oxide on Ag(111)","authors":"Ting-Chieh Hung, Paul Schweer, Karina Morgenstern","doi":"10.1021/acs.cgd.6c01195","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.cgd.6c01195","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The properties of thin films largely differ from those of bulk material. Moreover, deviations from their idealized structure might influence their properties, both structurally and electronically. We characterize the formation of ultrathin zinc oxide (ZnO) layers on Ag(111) using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy, low-energy electron diffraction, and scanning tunneling microscopy. Our study clarifies the film formation during reactive deposition, yielding a h-BN-like layer with a 7 × 7 superstructure, and reveals variations within the moiré pattern. The incomplete attenuation of the surface state, despite layer-by-layer formation, is attributed to silver patches within the ZnO layer, resulting from a diffusive Ag gas at the formation temperature of 600 K. Moreover, the nucleation of higher layers at domain boundaries highlights the importance of maintaining a low number of nuclei before the onset of film formation.</p>","PeriodicalId":34,"journal":{"name":"Crystal Growth & Design","volume":"26 19","pages":"7982–7990"},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2026-10-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149124682","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Crystal Creeping for Spatial Gradient Partitioning: A New Pre-Enrichment Strategy Assisting Multicomponent Crystallization Separation","authors":"Mingting Yuan, Yingchen Wang, Yimin Jia, Mei Ma, Wenjie Wang, Wenhao Yan, Qiushuo Yu","doi":"10.1021/acs.cgd.6c01150","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.cgd.6c01150","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Based on the significant difference in interfacial creeping behavior between ammonium chloride (NH<sub>4</sub>Cl) and hexamethylenetetramine (C<sub>6</sub>H<sub>12</sub>N<sub>4</sub>, HMTA), this work proposes a spatial gradient-based pre-enrichment strategy for multicomponent mixtures. Unlike conventional sequential fractional crystallization, which relies on precise temporal control of process conditions to induce successive precipitation of different solutes, our approach enables preferential accumulation of distinct components in different regions of a substrate during a single evaporation step, thereby generating a compositional gradient. Using the NH<sub>4</sub>Cl−C<sub>6</sub>H<sub>12</sub>N<sub>4</sub> binary system derived from glycine production mother liquor as a model, experiments demonstrate that crystal creeping produces concentric ring patterns with clear spatial differentiation: the inner region is enriched in NH<sub>4</sub>Cl, while the outer creeping zone is relatively enriched in C<sub>6</sub>H<sub>12</sub>N<sub>4</sub>. A single creeping cycle achieves only pre-enrichment rather than complete separation; however, repeated cycles progressively improve purity, raising the NH<sub>4</sub>Cl content from 80.11% to 92.87%. This gradient-partitioning approach is mild in conditions and simple to operate, offering a preliminary enrichment strategy for multicomponent mixed salt systems.</p>","PeriodicalId":34,"journal":{"name":"Crystal Growth & Design","volume":"26 19","pages":"7492–7498"},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2026-10-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149124800","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"An Eu-MOF Platform for Simultaneous Fluorescent Sensing of Chloramphenicol and 3,3'-Dimethoxybenzidine","authors":"Liru Gong, Ke Zhang, Taotao Zhang, Chan Gao, Xiaomei Wang, Xinhui Zhou","doi":"10.1021/acs.cgd.6c00490","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.cgd.6c00490","url":null,"abstract":"<p>A new europium-based metal−organic framework (MOF), namely [Eu<sub>4</sub>(L)<sub>2</sub>(NMP)<sub>4</sub>(H<sub>2</sub>O)<sub>4</sub>]·(H<sub>2</sub>O)<sub>4</sub> (<strong>1</strong>), was successfully synthesized via a solvothermal reaction of Eu<sup>3+</sup> ions with the multicarboxylate ligand 4′,4″,4‴-nitrilotris((1,1′-biphenyl)-3,5-dicarboxylic acid) (H<sub>6</sub>L). Structural analysis revealed that <strong>1</strong> possesses an extended porous framework and exhibits dual fluorescence emissions originating from ligand-centered emission at 450 nm and characteristic Eu<sup>3+</sup> emission at 615 nm upon excitation at 295 nm. Benefiting from the dual-emission feature, <strong>1</strong> can serve as a fluorescent sensor for the sensitive detection of chloramphenicol (CAP) and 3,3′-dimethoxybenzidine (3,3-DMB). Upon the addition of CAP, the characteristic Eu<sup>3+</sup> emission at 615 nm was significantly quenched, whereas 3,3-DMB induced a distinct ratiometric fluorescence response with enhanced ligand-centered emission and decreased Eu<sup>3+</sup> emission. The corresponding detection limits were determined to be 199.5 nM for CAP and 44 nM for 3,3-DMB, respectively. In addition, <strong>1</strong> exhibits excellent selectivity, anti-interference capability, and recyclability. Mechanistic investigations revealed that the sensing behavior toward CAP originates from the synergistic effect of the inner filter effect (IFE) and photoinduced electron transfer (PET), while the fluorescence response toward 3,3-DMB is attributed to the combined contribution of the inner filter effect (IFE) and modulation of the ligand-to-metal energy transfer process. This work demonstrates the potential application of dual-emissive lanthanide MOFs for rapid and sensitive fluorescence detection of hazardous analytes.</p>","PeriodicalId":34,"journal":{"name":"Crystal Growth & Design","volume":"26 19","pages":"7538–7546"},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2026-10-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149124888","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Tuning Head-to-Tail Packing in Polyfluorinated Schiff Bases for Enhanced NLO Response and High Refractive Index toward THz Applications","authors":"Fanghao Xuan, Yukang Liang, Yanxi Deng, Luyao Jiang, Chuyi Liang, Yurong Ma","doi":"10.1021/acs.cgd.6c00819","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.cgd.6c00819","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Schiff bases, which feature C<span></span>N backbones and extended π-conjugation, are attractive building blocks for nonlinear optical (NLO) crystals. However, high-performance Schiff-base NLO crystals remain difficult to design because strong push−pull electronic systems often favor centrosymmetric packing through dipole−dipole interactions, thereby cancelling the macroscopic second-order response. To address this challenge, we incorporated a thiomethyl electron donor together with trifluoromethyl (−CF<sub>3</sub>) or trifluoromethoxy (−OCF<sub>3</sub>) acceptors into a Schiff-base framework. Two halogenated Schiff-base derivatives, (<em>E</em>)-1-(4-(methylthio)phenyl)-<em>N</em>-(4-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)methanimine (TFNMLS, C<sub>15</sub>H<sub>12</sub>F<sub>3</sub>NS, <em>Pca</em>2<sub>1</sub>) and (<em>E</em>)-1-(4-(methylthio)phenyl)-<em>N</em>-(4-(trifluoromethoxy)phenyl)methanimine (TFONMLS, C<sub>15</sub>H<sub>12</sub>F<sub>3</sub>NOS, <em>P</em><sub><em>c</em></sub>), were designed, synthesized, and crystallized in non-centrosymmetric space groups. Theoretical analysis indicates that steric hindrance from the fluorinated groups directs polar crystal packing, while the thiomethyl group promotes intramolecular charge transfer. These synergistic effects afford large theoretical NLO coefficients of 17 and 10 pm/V for TFNMLS and TFONMLS, respectively. Experimentally, the two crystals exhibit powder SHG efficiencies of 12 and 5.1 times that of KDP, together with high refractive indices, broad optical transparency (400−1800 nm), and good thermal stability. Polarization-resolved SHG measurements reveal pronounced optical anisotropy dominated by the <em>d</em><sub>33</sub> component. Finally, both crystals generate terahertz (THz) time-domain signals via optical rectification and effectively fill the intrinsic 1.1 THz spectral gap commonly observed in ionic crystals such as DAST, demonstrating promising low-frequency spectral continuity.</p>","PeriodicalId":34,"journal":{"name":"Crystal Growth & Design","volume":"26 19","pages":"7716–7724"},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2026-10-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149124970","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}