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Milestone 5

Molecular visions

First organic molecules

Nature volume 511, pages 8–9 (2014)Cite this article

For today's organic chemists, analytical techniques have reached a level of sophistication that enables the structures of even the most complicated molecules to be determined quickly. By comparison, chemists in the 1920s were working in the dark: structural analysis required painstaking experiments and logical deductions; and the validation of proposed structures usually involved several supporting chemical syntheses.

The first direct evidence came in 1923, when two groups — one at Caltech and the other in Berlin — independently reported the first complete and accurate crystal structures of hexamethylenetetramine (C6H12N4). They opted to study this compound because it was one of the few without salt character to form crystals of cubic symmetry, greatly simplifying the structural determination. What's more, there are only two molecules of hexamethylenetetramine per unit cell, which meant that the positions of the carbon and nitrogen atoms could be determined from just two parameters. The work confirmed the chemical formula of the compound, proved its structure and demonstrated that molecules could indeed pack to form crystals.

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  1. Chief Editor, News & Views, Nature,

    Andrew Mitchinson

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  1. Andrew Mitchinson
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Mitchinson, A. Molecular visions. Nature 511 (Suppl 7509), 8–9 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature13353

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