With respect to the principles of biomineralization, it is of interest to study the crystallization of calcium oxalates under various experimental conditions. Calcium oxalates play decisive roles as biominerals in plants and as pathological “urinary/kidney stones” in vertebrates. Calcium oxalate exists in three different hydration states; calcium oxalate monohydrate (COM, monoclinic, a = 6.290(1)Å, b = 14.583(1)Å, c = 10.116(1)Å, β = 109.46°, P21/c), calcium oxalate dihydrate (COD, tetragonal, a = b = 12.371(3)Å, c = 7.357(2)Å, α = β = γ = 90°, I4/m) and calcium oxalate trihydrate (COT, triclinic, a = 6.11(1)Å, b = 7.167(2)Å, c = 8.457(2)Å, α = 76.5(2)°, β = 70.35(2)°, γ = 70.62(2)°, P ). Monoclinic COM and tetragonal COD are the most common phyto-crystals and the main constituents of kidney and urinary stones. The occurrence of calcium oxalates in plants represents a useful biogenesis (protection against herbivores) unlike the devastating occurrence in renal tubules. Therefore, biomineralization can be physiological or pathological. A systematic investigation of the morphological evolution of calcium oxalates in the presence of organic components is essential for understanding the mechanism of “pathological biomineralization”. In order to understand the pathological biomineralization of uroliths, it is necessary grow calcium oxalates comparable in morphology under similar growth conditions. The formation of calcium oxalate stones within a gelatinous state of proteins, polysaccharides, lipids and other biomacromolecules under a flow of supersaturated urine supports the fact that an “organic” gel model can simulate the process of urinary stone formation under in vitro conditions. Furthermore, synthetic polymers with precisely known functions and solution behaviours are better choices to understand the interaction of acidic proteins with calcium oxalates. Therefore, as a first step to unravel the complex pathology of uro/nephro lithiasis, we started to examine the structure and morphology of calcium oxalates crystallized in the presence of organic additives such as the sodium salt of polyacrylic acid (PAA) as well as agar gel. The influence of initial calcium oxalate concentration, pH and concentration of the additives on the formation of hydration states of calcium oxalates have been investigated along with the stated general methods. Apart from the three hydrated forms, calcium oxalate exists also in the anhydrous form (COA). Although three modifications of COA (α, β and γ) are reported in the literatures, the crystal structures and phase transformations were controversially discussed. We have been able to reveal the crystal structure of the β-modification of the anhydrous calcium oxalate by a combination of atomistic simulations and Rietveld refinements on the basis of powder X-ray diffraction pattern. β-COA belongs to the monoclinic system with unit cell parameters, a = 6.1644(3)Å, b = 7.3623(2)Å, c = 9.5371(5)Å, β = 90.24(2)°, P2/m (No. 10). The dehydration of COM was mimicked in silico to receive an initial model of the crystal structure of anhydrous calcium oxalate. This general approach may also be accessible for other decomposition processes ending up with crystalline powders of unknown crystal structure. No evidence for transformations from or to the α- or γ- modifications was found during our investigations. The growth pattern of COD crystals precipitated from aqueous solutions in the presence of PAA is clearly dependent on the concentration of PAA. By increasing the concentration of PAA, the shape of COD has been found to change from tetragonal bi-pyramids with dominant (101) pyramidal faces to tetragonal prisms with dominant (100) prism faces and finally to dumbbells. At still higher PAA concentrations, the morphology is reverted back to rod-like tetragonal prisms. Apart from these experiments, the interaction of PAA with (100) and (101) crystal faces of COD was explored with the aid of atomistic simulations. The simulation confirmed that during the development of the aggregates, strong interactions of PAA with the (100) faces take over control of morphologies. Our investigations show that the inner architecture of all the morphological varieties of COD was found to be dominated by an inner “core” consisting of thin elongated crystallites together with incorporated PAA and an outer “shell” formed as a consequence of secondary nucleation processes. We propose that for all types of COD aggregates, relative proportion of calcium oxalate and PAA dictates the shape and formation of nanometer sized crystallites which then aggregate and align to form the core. Such cores enriched with PAA may act as the sites for secondary nucleation events of calcium oxalate crystallites which then cover the core like a shell. In vitro experimental models for the growth of calcium oxalates can give valuable information on the growth and aggregation of urinary stones. Therefore, the “double diffusion technique” in agar gel matrix has been used for the biomimetic growth of calcium oxalate (COM) stones. A great variety of morphological forms of COM are produced in agar gel matrices (2 wt.-% agar gel of pH 8.5) ranging from platy crystallites to dumbbells and spherulites. The COM dumbbells and spherulites are assumed to be formed by the aggregation of smaller crystallites as a consequence of increased supersaturation inside the gel. Moreover, an increase of the pH value of the agar gel has been found to suppress the growth of COM and favours the growth of COD. The morphology of COD crystals grown in 2 wt.-% agar gel of pH 11.5 includes tetragonal prisms and dumbbells. The system calcium oxalate/ PAA/ H2O is a suitable model system for the investigation of principles of biomineral growth (shape development) in general. Our results demonstrate that the double diffusion technique in agar gel is a convenient route to grow calcium oxalate aggregates showing close resemblance to biogenic calculi and to study their ontogeny.

With respect to the principles of biomineralization, it is of interest to study the crystallization of calcium oxalates under various experimental conditions. Calcium oxalates play decisive roles as biominerals in plants and as pathological “urinary/kidney stones” in vertebrates. Calcium oxalate exists in three different hydration states; calcium oxalate monohydrate (COM, monoclinic, a = 6.290(1)Å, b = 14.583(1)Å, c = 10.116(1)Å, β = 109.46°, P21/c), calcium oxalate dihydrate (COD, tetragonal, a = b = 12.371(3)Å, c = 7.357(2)Å, α = β = γ = 90°, I4/m) and calcium oxalate trihydrate (COT, triclinic, a = 6.11(1)Å, b = 7.167(2)Å, c = 8.457(2)Å, α = 76.5(2)°, β = 70.35(2)°, γ = 70.62(2)°, P ). Monoclinic COM and tetragonal COD are the most common phyto-crystals and the main constituents of kidney and urinary stones. The occurrence of calcium oxalates in plants represents a useful biogenesis (protection against herbivores) unlike the devastating occurrence in renal tubules. Therefore, biomineralization can be physiological or pathological. A systematic investigation of the morphological evolution of calcium oxalates in the presence of organic components is essential for understanding the mechanism of “pathological biomineralization”. In order to understand the pathological biomineralization of uroliths, it is necessary grow calcium oxalates comparable in morphology under similar growth conditions. The formation of calcium oxalate stones within a gelatinous state of proteins, polysaccharides, lipids and other biomacromolecules under a flow of supersaturated urine supports the fact that an “organic” gel model can simulate the process of urinary stone formation under in vitro conditions. Furthermore, synthetic polymers with precisely known functions and solution behaviours are better choices to understand the interaction of acidic proteins with calcium oxalates. Therefore, as a first step to unravel the complex pathology of uro/nephro lithiasis, we started to examine the structure and morphology of calcium oxalates crystallized in the presence of organic additives such as the sodium salt of polyacrylic acid (PAA) as well as agar gel. The influence of initial calcium oxalate concentration, pH and concentration of the additives on the formation of hydration states of calcium oxalates have been investigated along with the stated general methods. Apart from the three hydrated forms, calcium oxalate exists also in the anhydrous form (COA). Although three modifications of COA (α, β and γ) are reported in the literatures, the crystal structures and phase transformations were controversially discussed. We have been able to reveal the crystal structure of the β-modification of the anhydrous calcium oxalate by a combination of atomistic simulations and Rietveld refinements on the basis of powder X-ray diffraction pattern. β-COA belongs to the monoclinic system with unit cell parameters, a = 6.1644(3)Å, b = 7.3623(2)Å, c = 9.5371(5)Å, β = 90.24(2)°, P2/m (No. 10). The dehydration of COM was mimicked in silico to receive an initial model of the crystal structure of anhydrous calcium oxalate. This general approach may also be accessible for other decomposition processes ending up with crystalline powders of unknown crystal structure. No evidence for transformations from or to the α- or γ- modifications was found during our investigations. The growth pattern of COD crystals precipitated from aqueous solutions in the presence of PAA is clearly dependent on the concentration of PAA. By increasing the concentration of PAA, the shape of COD has been found to change from tetragonal bi-pyramids with dominant (101) pyramidal faces to tetragonal prisms with dominant (100) prism faces and finally to dumbbells. At still higher PAA concentrations, the morphology is reverted back to rod-like tetragonal prisms. Apart from these experiments, the interaction of PAA with (100) and (101) crystal faces of COD was explored with the aid of atomistic simulations. The simulation confirmed that during the development of the aggregates, strong interactions of PAA with the (100) faces take over control of morphologies. Our investigations show that the inner architecture of all the morphological varieties of COD was found to be dominated by an inner “core” consisting of thin elongated crystallites together with incorporated PAA and an outer “shell” formed as a consequence of secondary nucleation processes. We propose that for all types of COD aggregates, relative proportion of calcium oxalate and PAA dictates the shape and formation of nanometer sized crystallites which then aggregate and align to form the core. Such cores enriched with PAA may act as the sites for secondary nucleation events of calcium oxalate crystallites which then cover the core like a shell. In vitro experimental models for the growth of calcium oxalates can give valuable information on the growth and aggregation of urinary stones. Therefore, the “double diffusion technique” in agar gel matrix has been used for the biomimetic growth of calcium oxalate (COM) stones. A great variety of morphological forms of COM are produced in agar gel matrices (2 wt.-% agar gel of pH 8.5) ranging from platy crystallites to dumbbells and spherulites. The COM dumbbells and spherulites are assumed to be formed by the aggregation of smaller crystallites as a consequence of increased supersaturation inside the gel. Moreover, an increase of the pH value of the agar gel has been found to suppress the growth of COM and favours the growth of COD. The morphology of COD crystals grown in 2 wt.-% agar gel of pH 11.5 includes tetragonal prisms and dumbbells. The system calcium oxalate/ PAA/ H2O is a suitable model system for the investigation of principles of biomineral growth (shape development) in general. Our results demonstrate that the double diffusion technique in agar gel is a convenient route to grow calcium oxalate aggregates showing close resemblance to biogenic calculi and to study their ontogeny.