Hand-twistable plastically deformable crystals of a rigid small organic molecule.
Lukman O AlimiPrem LamaVincent J SmithLeonard J BarbourPublished in: Chemical communications (Cambridge, England) (2018)
4-Bromobenzonitrile was crystallised by sublimation under vacuum. The crystals show highly flexible plastic bending along two perpendicular faces when a mechanical force is applied. The rare occurrence of bending along two perpendicular faces results in twisting or helix formation.