The chiral purity of a triazolylketone crystallised from racemic solutions

Abstract The triazolyl ketone (I) crystallises from racemic solutions as a racemic mixture (conglomerate) suggesting that crystallisation offers a simple route to the resolution of its R and S isomers. Analysis of single crystals, however, shows that not only are they rarely chirally pure but also they are highly strained and defective. These phenomena suggest that the stereoselectivity of the growing crystal surface is poor allowing the structure to switch randomly from the R to S isomer.