The effect of high pressure on the crystal structures of
-,
-, and
-glycine has been investigated. Anew polymorph,
-glycine, is obtained from
glycine.
-Glycine is monoclinic,
P2
1/
a,
a = 11.156(4),
b = 5.8644(11),
c = 5.3417(17) Å,
= 125.83(4)
at 1.9 GPa. The transition, which occurs between 0 and 0.8 GPa, proceeds from asingle crystal of
-glycine to a single crystal of
-glycine, resulting in an equal number of NH···O hydrogen bondsbut an increase in the number and strength of CH···O hydrogen bonds, which act to close-up "holes" that are formedwithin the layers of
-glycine in the centers of
R-type hydrogen-bonded motifs. Trigonal
-glycine begins to undergoa transition to another high-pressure phase,
-glycine, at 1.9 GPa, but the transformation is destructive; it isessentially complete at 4.3 GPa. The structure is monoclinic
Pn,
a = 4.8887(10),
b = 5.7541(11),
c = 5.4419(11) Å,
= 116.682(10)
at 4.3 GPa. The structure consists of layers similar to those observed in
-glycine with interlayerseparations of 2.38 and 3.38 Å and CH···O interactions formed between the layers. Monoclinic
-glycine is knownto be stable to 23 GPa, and we have obtained a single-crystal structure of this polymorph at 6.2 GPa. Super-shortNH···O hydrogen bonds are
not formed up to 6.2 GPa, and they only shorten significantly if they are formed parallelto CH···O hydrogen bonds, which strengthen, or vectors across holes which close-up, under pressure.