Ab initio structure determination of nanocrystals of organic pharmaceutical compounds by electron diffraction at room temperature using a Timepix quantum area direct electron detector

Genderen, E. van; Clabbers, M.T.B.; Das, P.P.; Stewart, A.; Nederlof, I.; Barentsen, K.C.; ... ; Abrahams, J.P. (2016)

Article / Letter to editor

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 (similar to 0.013 e(-) angstrom(-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).

• All authors: Genderen, E. van; 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.
• Date: 2016-03-01
• Journal: Acta Crystallographica Section A: Foundations and Advances
• Volume: 72
• Pages: 236 - 242
• DOI: doi:10.1107/S2053273315022500