alpha Succinic acid was prepared from the gas phase via the sublimation of the beta form. Two sublimation methods including sublimation with carrier gas and sublimation in the presence of foreign molecules were employed. The influence of the sublimation temperature and the crystallization temperature on the polymorph and morphology are presented and discussed. At high supersaturation, the alpha polymorph predominated, and at low supersaturation the beta polymorph was obtained. The influences of water and isopropanol in the gas phase on the morphology of beta succinic acid grown via the sublimation are presented and compared with morphologies of crystals grown from solution. (C) 2012 Published by Elsevier B.V.