Solving the black art
Event review: Practical crystallisation
 The first course on practical crystallisation, organised by the SCI Young Chemists Panel, took place over one and a half days in June 2007 at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, UK. The course, entitled ‘Practical Crystallisation: The Black Art Solved’ included a practical element, a unique and challenging aspect which was hoped would provide delegates with some real hands-on experience.
Four lectures were given, mixed with on-going practical sessions in the University’s teaching laboratories. The first lecture by Alan Kennedy focused on a general introduction to the forces which govern the formation of crystalline material. Alistair Florence gave an overview of polymorphs, solvates and salts in the second lecture and the impact on solubility and dissolution and in the third covered analytical techniques for measuring solid state properties of materials. Alan Kennedy concluded with examples of the impact of polymorphism and crystallisation on commercial products.
Practical sessions on crystallisation techniques backed up the lectures and gave delegates the opportunity to spend time practicing what was discussed in the lectures. These sessions took almost 50% of the overall course time and as well as working on examples of crystallisation, polymorphism and co-crystallisation, delegates also had the opportunity to gain experience with the analytical techniques applied to measuring crystallisation and polymorphism.
The course was a great success and delegates’ feedback was very enthusiastic. The Young Chemists Panel is hoping to run this course again in the future with a similar focus on the practical aspects of this subject and hopefully solve the ‘black art’ of crystallisation.
George Kirk
Young Chemists Panel
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