single component organic ferroelectric compound with helical hydrogen bond chains: crystal structure, ferroelectric and dielectric properties

n organic compound, 2-amino-4-phenylthiazole, crystallize in the polar space group P41; the neighboring molecules form a helical H-bonding chain along the crystallographic c-axis direction, and there are weak van der Waals forces between the adjacent H-bonding chains in the crystal. This compound shows ferroelectricity which is confirmed by the P-E hysteresis loop and dielectric spectroscopy. The theoretical analyses further revealed that the switch between two stable polarization states ?P and +P of the ferroelectricity under an external electric field can be easily achieved by the relative rotation of the thiazolyl and phenyl rings around C-C single bond of 2-amino-4-phenylthiazole.