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Ab initio structure determination of nanocrystals of organic pharmaceutical compounds by electron diffraction at room temperature using a Timepix quantum area direct electron detector
Author(s) -
van Genderen E.,
Clabbers M. T. B.,
Das P. P.,
Stewart A.,
Nederlof I.,
Barentsen K. C.,
Portillo Q.,
Pannu N. S.,
Nicolopoulos S.,
Gruene T.,
Abrahams J. P.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
acta crystallographica section a
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.742
H-Index - 83
ISSN - 2053-2733
DOI - 10.1107/s2053273315022500
Subject(s) - ab initio , electron diffraction , diffraction , materials science , transmission electron microscopy , powder diffraction , electron , detector , analytical chemistry (journal) , molecular physics , crystallography , optics , chemistry , physics , nanotechnology , organic chemistry , nuclear physics
Until recently, structure determination by transmission electron microscopy of beam‐sensitive three‐dimensional nanocrystals required electron diffraction tomography data collection at liquid‐nitrogen temperature, in order to reduce radiation damage. Here it is shown that the novel Timepix detector combines a high dynamic range with a very high signal‐to‐noise ratio and single‐electron sensitivity, enabling ab initio phasing of beam‐sensitive organic compounds. Low‐dose electron diffraction data (∼0.013 e − Å −2 s −1 ) were collected at room temperature with the rotation method. It was ascertained that the data were of sufficient quality for structure solution using direct methods using software developed for X‐ray crystallography ( XDS , SHELX ) and for electron crystallography ( ADT3D / PETS , SIR2014 ).