High pressure Raman spectra of monoglycine nitrate single crystal

• Monoglycine nitrate (MGN) crystal presented two phase transitions under high pressures.
• Nitrate anions play an important role on the stability of MGN crystal.
• The two phase transitions are reversible.
• Internal modes remain unchanged for the second anomaly.

Single crystal of monoglycine nitrate has been studied by Raman spectroscopy under high pressures up to 5.5 GPa. The results show changes in lattice modes in the pressure ranges of 1.1–1.6 GPa and 4.0–4.6 GPa. The first change occurs with appearance of bands related to the lattice modes as well as discontinuity in the slope of dΩ/dP of these modes. Moreover, bands associated with the skeleton of glycine suggest that the molecule undergoes conformational modifications. The appearance of a strong band at 55 cm− 1 point to a second phase transition associated with the lattice modes, while the internal modes remain unchanged. These anomalies are probably due to rearrangement of hydrogen bonds. Additionally, decompression to ambient pressure shows that the phase transitions are reversible. Finally, the results show that the nitrate anions play an important role on the stability of the monoglycine nitrate crystal.

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