Applications of Leverage Analysis in Structure Refinement

Apr 302012
 

J Appl. Cryst. (2012), 45, 417-429. [ doi:10.1107/S0021889812015191 ]

Leverages measure the influence that observations (intensity data and restraints) have on the fit obtained in crystal structure refinement. Further analysis enables the influence that observations have on specific parameters to be measured. The results of leverage analyses are discussed in the context of the amino acid alanine and an incomplete high-pressure data set of the complex bis(salicylaldoximato)copper(II). Leverage analysis can reveal situations where weak data are influential and allows an assessment of the influence of restraints. Analysis of the high-pressure refinement of the copper complex shows that the influence of the highest-leverage intensity observations increases when completeness is reduced, but low leverages stay low. The influence of restraints, notably those applying the Hirshfeld rigid-bond criterion, also increases dramatically. In alanine the precision of the Flack parameter is determined by medium-resolution data with moderate intensities. The results of a leverage analysis can be incorporated into a weighting scheme designed to optimize the precision of a selected parameter. This was applied to absolute structure refinement of light-atom crystal structures. The standard uncertainty of the Flack parameter could be reduced to around 0.1 even for a hydrocarbon.

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CRYSTALS Enhancements: Absolute Structure Determination

Sep 132011
 

J. Appl. Cryst.  (2011), 44, 1017-1022.    [ doi:10.1107/S0021889811034066 ]

A summary of the features for investigating absolute structure available in the crystallographic refinement program CRYSTALS is presented, together with the results of analyses of 150 light-atom structures collected with molybdenum radiation carried out with these tools. The results confirm that the Flack and Hooft parameters are strongly indicative, even when the standard uncertainties are large compared to the thresholds recommended by Flack & Bernardinelli [J. Appl. Cryst. (2000), 33, 1143–1148].

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  • Oxford University Research Archive [direct pdf]

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XXII International Congress and General Assembly of the International Union of Crystallography

Aug 312011
 

Madrid 2011 IUCrThe triennial Congress of the International Union of Crystallography was held in Madrid, Spain at the end of August 2011. Chem. Cryst. was well represented with several talks and posters including:

Richard I. Cooper
Optimising X-ray Experiment Strategy on-the-fly based on Feedback from Automated Structure Solution (Presentation)

Amber L. Thompson
Battle of the Titans:  Atlas vs. Eos and Other Stories (Invited presentation at the Agilent Technologies User Forum)

Jevgenij A. Raskatov, John M. Brown & Amber L. Thompson
Chiral Selection in the Formation of Borates from Racemic Binaphthols and related Diols (Poster)

Amber L. Thompson
Influencing Absolute Structure Determination (Poster)

Chiral Selection in the Formation of Borates from Racemic Binaphthols and Related Diols

Feb 152011
 

CrystEngComm (2011), 13(8) 2923-2929.    [ doi:10.1039/c0ce00709a ]

A series of racemic or stereochemically labile chiral borate anions based on the 2,20-biphenol motif was
investigated. All borates were homochiral in the solid state, although in some cases the heterochiral
diastereomers were computed to be thermodynamically preferred (DFT). The crystallographic
preference for the homochiral diastereomer was attributed to its lower bulk, higher molecular
symmetry, and the therewith associated better packing ability.

Practical Applications of Averages and Differences of Friedel Opposites

Dec 072010
 

Acta Cryst. (2011), A67, 21-34.    [ doi:10.1107/S010876731004287X ]

The practical use of the average and difference intensities of Friedel opposites at different stages of structure analysis has been investigated. It is shown how these values may be properly and practically used at the stage of space-group determination. At the stage of least-squares refinement, it is shown that increasing the weight of the difference intensities does not improve their fit to the model. The correct form of the coefficients for a difference electron-density calculation is given. In the process of structure validation, it is further shown that plots of the observed and model difference intensities provide an objective method to evaluate the fit of the data to the model and to reveal insufficiencies in the intensity measurements. As a further tool for the validation of structure determinations, the use of the Patterson functions of the average and difference intensities has been investigated and their clear advantage demonstrated.

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CRYSTALS 14.11

Jul 312010
 

CRYSTALS v14.11 is available as a beta-test.

Many small changes in Regularise Replace thanks to a CRYSTALS workshop in Toulouse organised by Carine Duhayon and Laure Vendier.

Cif generator now properly includes esds on refined hydrogen bonds, has incrreased figure-fields for cell parameters, and appends constraint and restraint information as _iucr_ data items at end of cif.

Improved scaling of difference Pattersons – see forthcoming paper by Flack, Sadki, Thompson & Watkin.

Absolute configuration routine (based on PLATON with Ton Spek’s permission) extended to provide more diagnostics and additional data to be re-input as absolute-structure strengthening restraints (see paper by Flack et al. above).

Error tracking for “USE” files has been improved.

Collaboration with Ernesto Mesto (Dipartimento Geomineralogico – Università degli Studi di Bari) uncovered over-sights in the original 1979 code, which lost contributions when a twin component fell onto a centring absence. Difference maps with twinned data now seem to reveal hydrogen atoms very reliably.

ACA Annual Meeting 2010

Jul 292010
 

The ACA was held at the Sheraton Hotel in Chicago, IL.  Contributions from Chem. Cryst. include:

James Haestier, Amber L. Thompson, David J. Watkin, George C. Feast, Jeremy Robertson & Lee Page
Why is P21/n a Standard Non-Standard Space Group? (Poster)

Amber L. Thompson & David J. Watkin
Unpublishable” Data:  Does My R-factor Look Big in This? (Poster)

Amber L. Thompson
Absolute Structure Determination – Interpreting the Flack Parameter  (Presentation)

Steviamine, A New Class of Indolizidine Alkaloid

Oct 222009
 

Acta Cryst. (2009), E65, o2904-o2905.    [ doi:10.1107/S1600536809043827 ]

X-ray crystallographic analysis of the title hydrobromide salt, C10H20N+Br-, of (1R,2S,3R,5R,8aR)-3-hydroxymethyl-5- methyloctahydroindolizine-1,2-diol defines the absolute and relative stereochemistry at the five chiral centres in steviamine, a new class of polyhydroxylated indolizidine alkaloid isolated from Stevia rebaudiana (Asteraceae) leaves.

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ECM 25

Aug 212009
 

The 25th European Crystallographic Meeting was held in the Harbiye Museum and Cultural Centre in the beautiful city of Istanbul.  It was a very eventful week, and contributions to the conference made by Chem. Cryst. include:

N. David Brown, James Haestier, Mustapha Sadki, Amber L. Thompson & David J. Watkin
A Further Improved Structure Matching Algorithm (Poster)

James Haestier
Handling of Cell Errors and their Effect on Derived Parameters (Poster)

Mustapha Sadki
New Modelling for Disordered Atoms in Free-form Based Hybrid Refinement and Visual Representation (Poster)

Mustapha Sadki
The Application of Novel Modelling and Refinement Strategies to Crystallography (Presentation)

Amber L. Thompson & David J. Watkin
Absolute Configuration Determination – Is there More Information in the Data? (Poster)

David J. Watkin, Richard I. Cooper & Amber L. Thompson
CRYSTALS:  Refinement and Validation Tools (Poster)

David Watkin
The Future of Small Molecule Software (Session Chair)

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