The effects of extreme conditions on molecular solids

The effect of high pressure on molecular systems has been extensively studied in the last twenty years. Over this period there has been an expansion of the types of materials under study from simple alcohols1,2 and amino acids3–5 towards more complex systems.6,7 In most of these studies, pressure has been able to induce transitions in materials that have not been observed via other ambient pressure techniques: simple molecular systems demonstrate changes in hydrogen-bonding and rotational configurations, and even display new chemical bonds.

This themed issue includes 12 articles that expand over a wide range of materials and pressures. Throughout this issue, the methods employed by the authors are demonstrative of those used to characterise materials under extreme conditions; the boundaries are being pushed to extremes, whether it is the size and complexity of the molecules, the techniques themselves or the pressures achieved