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X-ray crystallography is a technique used to reveal how the atoms of crystalline solids are arranged, relying upon the diffraction of X-ray radiation by the periodic atomic structure. Its continual development means that it remains one of the most significant techniques for determining the structure of materials and small molecules.
Time-resolved femtosecond crystallography (TR-SFX) is a powerful technique to monitor structural transitions in protein crystals at the atomic level, but its use in non-protein synthetic materials remains limited. Now TR-SFX has been used to visualize the structural dynamics of metal–organic frameworks, showing the potential of this tool to study the dynamic motion of crystalline porous materials.
Structural biology has undergone a revolution thanks to cryo-EM and artificial intelligence-based model predictions; nonetheless, experimental phasing continues to be essential. Here, the authors utilize the long-wavelength I23 beamline at Diamond Light Source to solve macromolecular structures using single-wavelength anomalous diffraction techniques, showcasing their proficiency in phasing with lighter atoms.
The energy density in redox flow batteries is currently limited by the solubility of dissolved redox species. Now it has been shown that intermolecular C–H···π interactions can disrupt electrostatic forces in these organic electrolytes to improve their solubility in non-aqueous solvents.
The Lewis acidity of trihaloboranes has now also been observed for tetrahalodiboranes, which bind halides to give hexahalodiborates — a new anion class.
X-ray diffraction not only paints a picture of atomic structure but also, when performed at multiple wavelengths, tells us about relative redox levels of metals in clusters.
A synchrotron X-ray diffraction experiment demonstrates an unexpected accumulation of electron density in the interlayer region of TiS2, and provides a benchmark for theoretical models of weak interlayer bonding.
