Metric engineering of crystalline inclusion compounds by structural mimicry

The structural robustness and flexibility of hydrogen-bonded host frameworks are exploited to produce inclusion compounds (such as that shown in the picture) with host-guest organization that mimics, almost exactly, the packing features that are innate to the crystal structures of the respective pure guests. Using only the lattice parameters that define the two- dimensional herringbone packing motif in crystals of these guests, the crystalline architecture and specific metric parameters of corresponding inclusion compounds can be reliably predicted.