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ArtistFormer pharma CDMO process development chemist. I had the molecule from hell that 2 previous labs failed to isolate as anything other than an oil. Highly polar regions on the ends of 3 separate long C18 chains around a fused heterocycle core. With some screening to find some anti-solvent conditions that would cause the oil to turn to a waxy/gummy solid. One day on a lark I set up the weirdest seed crystal generation experiment - RBF in a sonicator, dose the antisolvent and I got 'crystal-ish' solids (probably just crystals coated in waxy oil). It then took another few days of screening to find a ternary solvent system that would use those seed crystals to generate proper crystals in bulk (thank you Ostwald ripening!) that would dry nicely under just a nitrogen flow to meet ICH Q7 residual solvent specs. So yeah, polymorphs and crystallization can just get downright weird. Didn't have an XRD back then, and the molecule failed in the clinic.
An overhead shot of a molecular model submerged partially in a light brown, cloudy, and oily liquid, inside of a white, round container. The liquid has a layer of small, gritty white particles and clear, yellowish oil droplets floating on its surface, as well as thin, clear, jagged, needle-like crystals of ice. The model represents a six-carbon ring structure called benzene, with six round translucent yellow 'hydrogen' atoms connected by gray sticks to six dark gray 'carbon' atoms, arranged in a hexagon with alternating single and double bonds. The molecular model is primarily submerged, with the sticks connecting the "carbon" atoms emerging from the water. The "carbon" atoms and the ends of the sticks that connect them are covered in a fine, white, gritty crystallized substance that makes the surface appear rough. The "hydrogen" atoms are larger, clear, and bubbled, similar to rock candy, with some having white crystallized substance adhering to their surfaces. Several of the "hydrogen" atoms are completely submerged, while others are partially submerged, with parts of their surfaces exposed above the liquid. The liquid's surface has a shiny, reflective sheen. The inside walls of the container, visible at the top and left, are white and
