Precise measurement of bending kinematics induced by a photochemical reaction in a single crystal can be used to extract the kinetic parameters of the underlying reaction with high accuracy.

High pressure offers insight into the mechanisms of a wide range of solid-state phenomena occurring under atmospheric pressure conditions.

Mechanism of crystal jumping on heating was revealed by X-ray diffraction and computational techniques.

When crystals of four polymorphs – a stable α-form and three metastable ones (β-, γ-, δ-forms) – are simultaneously present in a pressure cell, immersed in a 1 : 1 pentane–isopentane mixture, the least stable β-form recrystallises exclusively into the γ-form (if no δ-form seed is present) or concomitantly into the γ- and δ-forms (if a seed of the δ-form is present). However, the β-form never recrystallises to the stable α-form, even if the latter is also present as a potential seed.

We report the unusual behavior of β-alanine under pressure. Depending on the protocol with which pressure was increased, the crystals of β-alanine I after transition to phase II either transformed into monoclinic phase V at approximately 6 GPa or remained orthorhombic at least up to 8 GPa in phase II with a molecular packing very similar to that of phase I.