Experimental Techniques

Crystallography is primarily an experimental technique.   Pushing the boundaries of what is currently practical is an important part of the development of our science.

• Exploiting Synchrotron Radiation

  I19 at Diamond Light Source

  The time allocated at Diamond (I19) to the Chemical Crystallography Service has really brought the power of synchrotron radiation to our attention.  In addition to a number of collaborative research projects with scientists at Diamond Light Source, we are currently involved in developing the Laue (multi-wavelength) technique for use in small molecule research.

• Structures from Liquids

  Crystallography is inherently a solid-state technique.  However, where a material is a liquid under ambient conditions, it may be possible either to grow a crystal at low temperature and mount it using cryo-techniques or, alternatively, grow a crystal in situ on the diffractometer.  In order to be successful, the material must crystallise.  If this is the case it is then sealed in a capillary and mounted on the diffractometer.  It is then cooled to form a microcrystalline powder which is then zone-heated to melt the smallest crystallites so Read more …

• Solid State NMR

  Although solid state NMR is outside our primary area of expertise, it is an invaluable tool that is complementary to diffraction techniques.  In addition to using solution NMR as a test for bulk purity (by comparison of the single crystal and bulk spectra) it can provide a unique understanding of the dynamics with in a system.

  We are also currently engaged in a project using NMR to probe the effectiveness of hydrogen location with diffraction techniques and Density Functional Theory (DFT).  As with all solid state NMR work, this Read more …