Facilities
The X-ray laboratory started in 1990 with the acquisition of a single crystal Turbo CAD 4 and a Rigaku powder diffractometer. Since then we have been actively engaged in solving molecular and crystal structures and even though the laboratory is not established as a national service, it has been acting as such. The laboratory was first upgraded in 2000 with the acquisition of a MACH 3 Mo sealed-tube diffractometer equipped with a scintillation serial detector; the large volume of samples that needed to be handled required a faster system to collect data so, in 2005 the laboratory replaced the MACH 3 by a Bruker AXS-KAPPA APEX II Mo sealed-tube diffractometer, with a low temperature Oxford Cryosystem (that allows variation of data collection temperature from room temperature to 90 K) and also acquired a Bruker D8 ADVANCE Powder Diffractometer, with Cu radiation in a Bragg Brentano geometry. In 2013, a Bruker D8 Quest Single Crystal Diffractometer was also acquired. In 2014 a Bruker D8 ADVANCE Powder Diffractometer with lynxeye-XE, also with Cu radiation was purchased.
The X-ray team has a wide expertise in solving structures of organic, organometallic, coordination and inorganic compounds. Low temperature data is collected in more than 200 crystals per year. Structures of air sensitive organometallic compounds, including some highly catalytically active molecules, have been determined, supplying important clues to different mechanistic studies. Structures of potential molecular conductors and molecular magnets have been solved, whose physical properties were measured by groups with whom there are strong collaborations. The principles of Crystal Engineering, robust and directional non covalent interactions, were used to design and obtain materials with NLO properties. These same principles are being used in solid state studies on polymorphism and co-crystallization of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients and on other non steroidal drugs.
The X-ray team has a wide expertise in solving structures of organic, organometallic, coordination and inorganic compounds. Low temperature data is collected in more than 200 crystals per year. Structures of air sensitive organometallic compounds, including some highly catalytically active molecules, have been determined, supplying important clues to different mechanistic studies. Structures of potential molecular conductors and molecular magnets have been solved, whose physical properties were measured by groups with whom there are strong collaborations. The principles of Crystal Engineering, robust and directional non covalent interactions, were used to design and obtain materials with NLO properties. These same principles are being used in solid state studies on polymorphism and co-crystallization of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients and on other non steroidal drugs.