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Uekusa Lab
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The lab designs pharmaceuticals and color-changing crystals based on how molecules are arranged inside crystals.
AboutAbout the lab
Into the fascinating world inside crystals.
The Uekusa Lab studies structural chemistry centered on crystal structures, working with organic crystals such as active pharmaceutical ingredients.
By making use of the regular arrangement of molecules in a crystal, it should be possible to control chemical reactions and change the properties of crystals.
In organic crystals, molecules are held together by relatively weak forces, so the structure has a "softness" that changes with surrounding conditions and stimuli.
The lab's research is based on X-ray crystal structure analysis, combined with thermal analysis, spectroscopy, and theoretical calculation.
Key terms
- X-ray crystal structure analysis
- A method of directing X-rays at a crystal and working out the three-dimensional arrangement of molecules and atoms from the pattern of the scattered X-rays.
- Active pharmaceutical ingredient (API)
- The ingredient itself that gives a drug its effect. Tablets and similar products are made by adding other ingredients to the API.
- Cocrystal
- A crystal formed when different kinds of molecules line up together in a regular arrangement.
- Crystal engineering
- Designing crystals with targeted structures and properties by carefully choosing how molecules are combined.
NewsLab news
Student wins Excellent Student Presentation Award (Poster) at the Symposium on Photochemistry
Student wins Student Presentation Award at the Soft Crystal Study Group meeting
Professor Uekusa recognized as an Outstanding Reviewer for CrystEngComm by the Royal Society of Chemistry
Student wins Outstanding Presentation Award for Bachelor's Research at the Bachelor's Specific Research Presentations
ResearchResearch themes
Crystals formed by organic molecules have a "softness": the shape and arrangement of the molecules change with the surrounding environment and stimuli. Focusing on this behavior, the lab comprehensively studies the design, analysis, and physical properties of organic crystals.
*Illustrative imageDesign, Structure, and Properties of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients
Most drugs are manufactured and used in crystalline form. The lab designs and converts crystals, analyzes their structures in detail, and investigates how structure relates to improvements in properties such as solubility and storage stability.
*Illustrative imageDehydration and Hydration Transitions of Pharmaceutical Hydrates
The lab studies structural changes that occur when water-containing crystals lose or take up water in response to changes in humidity or temperature. For crystals that can only be obtained as powder, it solves three-dimensional structures from powder diffraction data measured at synchrotron radiation facilities.
*Illustrative imageDesign of Pharmaceutical Cocrystals
Centered on the main ingredient of a drug, the lab designs and synthesizes crystals made of multiple components, aiming to make drugs more soluble. It also uses theoretical calculation to study why forming a cocrystal improves solubility.
*Illustrative imageCrystal Engineering
Using "inclusion host" molecules that form specific structures, the lab deliberately creates "inclusion crystals" that take other molecules inside. Examples include materials that release a fungicide slowly.
MembersFaculty
Members of the Uekusa Lab include faculty and doctoral, master's, and undergraduate students.As of 2025
- ProfessorHidehiro UekusaPublications ↗
- Assistant ProfessorAkiko SekinePublications ↗
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Report an errorAbout the images
The top and research theme images are illustrative and were not taken at the lab. They are cropped from Wikimedia Commons images. Cropped CC BY-SA images are provided under the same CC BY-SA license as the original (version shown on each line).
- Top image: “Sertraline-hydrochloride-form-I-xtal-3D-vdW” Ben Mills / Public domain (cropped)
- Design, Structure, and Properties of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients: “Ibuprofen-crystals-polarized-light-microscopy” Janeklass / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Dehydration and Hydration Transitions of Pharmaceutical Hydrates: “SPring- img pano” Artorius / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Design of Pharmaceutical Cocrystals: “Diclofenac-from-xtal-3D-sf” Ben Mills / Public domain (cropped)
- Crystal Engineering: “Crystallized sugar, multiple crystals and a single crystal grown from seed” Zaereth / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (八島研究室): “SPring- img pano” en:User:Artorius / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (火原研究室): “Lab on a Chip ( )” National Institute of Standards and Technology / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (河野研究室): “Structure of NU-1000” Georgina P. Robertson, Sara Mosca, Celia Castillo-Blas, Florencia A. Son, Omar K. Farha, David A. Keen, Simone Anzellini, and Thomas D. Bennett / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (石内研究室): “IR Optical Parametric Oscillator” Kkmurray / CC BY 3.0 (cropped)
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