High Saturation Polarization Ferroelectricity in a Pair of α‐Phase Enantiomorphic Crystals Based on Calabash‐Shaped Molecules

ABSTRACT Molecular ferroelectrics have become promising alternatives to traditional inorganic ferroelectrics due to their structural tunability, flexibility, and biocompatibility. The homochiral strategy provides an effective route for constructing ferroelectric materials by increasing the probability of obtaining polar crystal structures. In this work, we designed a pair of unique calabash‐shaped chiral organic cations, S/R ‐430 ( (S/R) ‐hexahydro‐1H‐pyrrolo[2,1‐c][1,4]oxazine), and successfully synthesized two novel enantiomeric ferroelectric materials, [ S/R ‐430 M][FeBr 4 ] ( S/R ‐430 M = (5 R ,8a S /5 S ,8a R )‐5‐methyloctahydropyrrolo[2,1‐c][1,4]oxazin‐5‐ium). Both compounds exhibit three room‐temperature crystalline phases ( α , β , γ ) with chiral polar point groups C 1 , C 2 and C 4 , respectively. Among these polymorphs, the α ‐phase undergoes a reversible ‐type first‐order ferroelectric phase transition at approximately 355 K, in which the second‐harmonic generation (SHG) signal decreases from a nonzero value to nearly zero. Benefiting from the lowest polar symmetry of the triclinic P 1 space group, the compounds display ferroelectric behavior with well‐saturated polarization‐electric field hysteresis loops along the a ‐, b ‐, and c ‐axes at room temperature. Impressively, the saturation polarization ( P s ) of α‐ [ S ‐430 M][FeBr 4 ] along the b ‐axis reaches 31.7 µC/cm 2 . This work not only enriches the family of chiral organic–inorganic hybrid ferroelectrics but also facilitates the development of novel molecular ferroelectric functional materials.

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Journal
Angewandte Chemie
Published
2026-08-25
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/ange.2885108
Primary Topic
Perovskite Materials and Applications
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
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article

High Saturation Polarization Ferroelectricity in a Pair of α‐Phase Enantiomorphic Crystals Based on Calabash‐Shaped Molecules

Zhenhong Wei, Hu Cai, Yang Si, Wenjing Guo et al.
Angewandte Chemie
Perovskite Materials and Applications
article

High Saturation Polarization Ferroelectricity in a Pair of α‐Phase Enantiomorphic Crystals Based on Calabash‐Shaped Molecules

Zhenhong Wei, Hu Cai, Yang Si, Wenjing Guo, Yanlin LAI, Xiuli You, Mengxiang Luo, Xiao Sun, Lin Zhou
article en

Abstract

ABSTRACT Molecular ferroelectrics have become promising alternatives to traditional inorganic ferroelectrics due to their structural tunability, flexibility, and biocompatibility. The homochiral strategy provides an effective route for constructing ferroelectric materials by increasing the probability of obtaining polar crystal structures. In this work, we designed a pair of unique calabash‐shaped chiral organic cations, S/R ‐430 ( (S/R) ‐hexahydro‐1H‐pyrrolo[2,1‐c][1,4]oxazine), and successfully synthesized two novel enantiomeric ferroelectric materials, [ S/R ‐430 M][FeBr 4 ] ( S/R ‐430 M = (5 R ,8a S /5 S ,8a R )‐5‐methyloctahydropyrrolo[2,1‐c][1,4]oxazin‐5‐ium). Both compounds exhibit three room‐temperature crystalline phases ( α , β , γ ) with chiral polar point groups C 1 , C 2 and C 4 , respectively. Among these polymorphs, the α ‐phase undergoes a reversible ‐type first‐order ferroelectric phase transition at approximately 355 K, in which the second‐harmonic generation (SHG) signal decreases from a nonzero value to nearly zero. Benefiting from the lowest polar symmetry of the triclinic P 1 space group, the compounds display ferroelectric behavior with well‐saturated polarization‐electric field hysteresis loops along the a ‐, b ‐, and c ‐axes at room temperature. Impressively, the saturation polarization ( P s ) of α‐ [ S ‐430 M][FeBr 4 ] along the b ‐axis reaches 31.7 µC/cm 2 . This work not only enriches the family of chiral organic–inorganic hybrid ferroelectrics but also facilitates the development of novel molecular ferroelectric functional materials.

Angewandte Chemie
Nanchang University (CN), Jiangxi Science and Technology Normal University (CN), Jiangxi Normal University (CN), Nanjing University (CN)
National Key Research and Development Program of China
Openalex Percentile: Top 19%
Perovskite Materials and Applications
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