Microfluidic platforms for the characterization of in meso membrane protein crystallization

Membrane proteins, which reside in the membranes of cells, play a critical role in many important biological processes including cellular signaling, immune response, and material and energy transduction. Because of their key role in maintaining the environment within cells and facilitating intercellular interactions, understanding the function of these proteins is of tremendous medical and biochemical significance. Indeed, the malfunction of membrane proteins has been linked to numerous diseases including diabetes, cirrhosis of the liver, cystic fibrosis, cancer, Alzheimer's disease, hypertension, epilepsy, cataracts, tubulopathy, leukodystrophy, Leigh syndrome, anemia, sensorineural deafness, and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.1-3 However, the structure of many of these proteins and the changes in their structure that lead to disease-related malfunctions are not well understood. Additionally, at least 60% of the pharmaceuticals currently available are thought to target membrane proteins, despite the fact that their exact mode of operation is not known.4-6 Developing a detailed understanding of the function of a protein is achieved by coupling biochemical experiments with knowledge of the structure of the protein. Currently the most common method for obtaining three-dimensional structure information is X-ray crystallography. However, no a priori methods are currently available to predict crystallization conditions for a given protein.7-14 This limitation is currently overcome by screening a large number of possible combinations of precipitants, buffer, salt, and pH conditions to identify conditions that are conducive to crystal nucleation and growth.7,9,11,15-24 Unfortunately, these screening efforts are often limited by difficulties associated with quantity and purity of available protein samples. While the two most significant bottlenecks for protein structure determination in general are the (i) obtaining sufficient quantities of high quality protein samples and (ii) growing high quality protein crystals that are suitable for X-ray structure determination,7,20,21,23,25-47 membrane proteins present additional challenges. For crystallization it is necessary to extract the membrane proteins from the cellular membrane. However, this process often leads to denaturation. In fact, membrane proteins have proven to be so difficult to crystallize that of the more than 66,000 structures deposited in the Protein Data Bank,48 less than 1% are for membrane proteins, with even fewer present at high resolution (< 2Å)4,6,49 and only a handful are human membrane proteins.49 A variety of strategies including detergent solubilization50-53 and the use of artificial membrane-like environments have been developed to circumvent this challenge.43,53-55 In recent years, the use of a lipidic mesophase as a medium for crystallizing membrane proteins has been demonstrated to increase success for a wide range of membrane proteins, including human receptor proteins.54,56-62 This in meso method for membrane protein crystallization, however, is still by no means routine due to challenges related to sample preparation at sub-microliter volumes and to crystal harvesting and X-ray data collection. This dissertation presents various aspects of the development of a microfluidic platform to enable high throughput in meso membrane protein crystallization at a level beyond the capabilities of current technologies. Microfluidic platforms for protein crystallization and other lab-on-a-chip applications have been well demonstrated.9,63-66 These integrated chips provide fine control over transport phenomena and the ability to perform high throughput analyses via highly integrated fluid networks. However, the development of microfluidic platforms for in meso protein crystallization required the development of strategies to cope with extremely viscous and non-Newtonian fluids. A theoretical treatment of highly viscous fluids in microfluidic devices is presented in Chapter 3, followed by the application of these strategies for the development of a microfluidic mixer capable of preparing a mesophase sample for in meso crystallization at a scale of less than 20 nL in Chapter 4. This approach was validated with the successful on chip in meso crystallization of the membrane protein bacteriorhodopsin. In summary, this is the first report of a microfluidic platform capable of performing in meso crystallization on-chip, representing a 1000x reduction in the scale at which mesophase trials can be prepared. Once protein crystals have formed, they are typically harvested from the droplet they were grown in and mounted for crystallographic analysis. Despite the high throughput automation present in nearly all other aspects of protein structure determination, the harvesting and mounting of crystals is still largely a manual process. Furthermore, during mounting the fragile protein crystals can potentially be damaged, both from physical and environmental shock. To circumvent these challenges an X-ray transparent microfluidic device architecture was developed to couple the benefits of scale, integration, and precise fluid control with the ability to perform in situ X-ray analysis (Chapter 5). This approach was validated successfully by crystallization and subsequent on-chip analysis of the soluble proteins lysozyme, thaumatin, and ribonuclease A and will be extended to microfluidic platforms for in meso membrane protein crystallization. The ability to perform in situ X-ray analysis was shown to provide extremely high quality diffraction data, in part as a result of not being affected by damage due to physical handling of the crystals. As part of the work described in this thesis, a variety of data collection strategies for in situ data analysis were also tested, including merging of small slices of data from a large number of crystals grown on a single chip, to allow for diffraction analysis at biologically relevant temperatures. While such strategies have been applied previously,57,59,61,67 they are potentially challenging when applied via traditional methods due to the need to grow and then mount a large number of crystals with minimal crystal-to-crystal variability. The integrated nature of microfluidic platforms easily enables the generation of a large number of reproducible crystallization trials. This, coupled with in situ analysis capabilities has the potential of being able to acquire high resolution structural data of proteins at biologically relevant conditions for which only small crystals, or crystals which are adversely affected by standard cryocooling techniques, could be obtained (Chapters 5 and 6). While the main focus of protein crystallography is to obtain three-dimensional protein structures, the results of typical experiments provide only a static picture of the protein. The use of polychromatic or Laue X-ray diffraction methods enables the collection of time resolved structural information. These experiments are very sensitive to crystal quality, however, and often suffer from severe radiation damage due to the intense polychromatic X-ray beams. Here, as before, the ability to perform in situ X-ray analysis on many small protein crystals within a microfluidic crystallization platform has the potential to overcome these challenges. An automated method for collecting a "single-shot" of data from a large number of crystals was developed in collaboration with the BioCARS team at the Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Laboratory (Chapter 6). The work described in this thesis shows that, even more so than for traditional structure determination efforts, the ability to grow and analyze a large number of high quality crystals is critical to enable time resolved structural studies of novel proteins. In addition to enabling X-ray crystallography experiments, the development of X-ray transparent microfluidic platforms also has tremendous potential to answer other scientific questions, such as unraveling the mechanism of in meso crystallization. For instance, the lipidic mesophases utilized during in meso membrane protein crystallization can be characterized by small angle X-ray diffraction analysis. Coupling in situ analysis with microfluidic platforms capable of preparing these difficult mesophase samples at very small volumes has tremendous potential to enable the high throughput analysis of these systems on a scale that is not reasonably achievable using conventional sample preparation strategies (Chapter 7). In collaboration with the LS-CAT team at the Advanced Photon Source, an experimental station for small angle X-ray analysis coupled with the high quality visualization capabilities needed to target specific microfluidic samples on a highly integrated chip is under development. Characterizing the phase behavior of these mesophase systems and the effects of various additives present in crystallization trials is key for developing an understanding of how in meso crystallization occurs. A long term goal of these studies is to enable the rational design of in meso crystallization experiments so as to avoid or limit the need for high throughput screening efforts. In summary, this thesis describes the development of microfluidic platforms for protein crystallization with in situ analysis capabilities. Coupling the ability to perform in situ analysis with the small scale, fine control, and the high throughput nature of microfluidic platforms has tremendous potential to enable a new generation of crystallographic studies and facilitate the structure determination of important biological targets. The development of platforms for in meso membrane protein crystallization is particularly significant because they enable the preparation of highly viscous mixtures at a previously unachievable scale. Work in these areas is ongoing and has tremendous potential to improve not only current the methods of protein crystallization and crystallography, but also to enhance our knowledge of the structure and function of proteins which could have a significant scientific and medical impact on society as a whole. The microfluidic technology described in this thesis has the potential to significantly advance our understanding of the structure and function of membrane proteins, thereby aiding the elucidation of human biology, the development of pharmaceuticals with fewer side effects for a wide range of diseases. References (1) Quick, M.; Javitch, J. A. P Natl Acad Sci USA 2007, 104, 3603. (2) Trubetskoy, V. S.; Burke, T. J. Am Lab 2005, 37, 19. (3) Pecina, P.; Houstkova, H.; Hansikova, H.; Zeman, J.; Houstek, J. Physiol Res 2004, 53, S213. (4) Arinaminpathy, Y.; Khurana, E.; Engelman, D. M.; Gerstein, M. B. Drug Discovery Today 2009, 14, 1130. (5) Overington, J. P.; Al-Lazikani, B.; Hopkins, A. L. Nat Rev Drug Discov 2006, 5, 993. (6) Dauter, Z.; Lamzin, V. S.; Wilson, K. S. Current Opinion in Structural Biology 1997, 7, 681. (7) Hansen, C.; Quake, S. R. Current Opinion in Structural Biology 2003, 13, 538. (8) Govada, L.; Carpenter, L.; da Fonseca, P. C. A.; Helliwell, J. R.; Rizkallah, P.; Flashman, E.; Chayen, N. E.; Redwood, C.; Squire, J. M. J Mol Biol 2008, 378, 387. (9) Hansen, C. L.; Skordalakes, E.; Berger, J. M.; Quake, S. R. P Natl Acad Sci USA 2002, 99, 16531. (10) Leng, J.; Salmon, J.-B. Lab Chip 2009, 9, 24. (11) Zheng, B.; Gerdts, C. J.; Ismagilov, R. F. Current Opinion in Structural Biology 2005, 15, 548. (12) Lorber, B.; Delucas, L. J.; Bishop, J. B. J Cryst Growth 1991, 110, 103. (13) Talreja, S.; Perry, S. L.; Guha, S.; Bhamidi, V.; Zukoski, C. F.; Kenis, P. J. A. The Journal of Physical Chemistry B 2010, 114, 4432. (14) Chayen, N. E. Current Opinion in Structural Biology 2004, 14, 577. (15) He, G. W.; Bhamidi, V.; Tan, R. B. H.; Kenis, P. J. A.; Zukoski, C. F. Cryst Growth Des 2006, 6, 1175. (16) Zheng, B.; Tice, J. D.; Roach, L. S.; Ismagilov, R. F. Angew Chem Int Edit 2004, 43, 2508. (17) Li, L.; Mustafi, D.; Fu, Q.; Tereshko, V.; Chen, D. L. L.; Tice, J. D.; Ismagilov, R. F. P Natl Acad Sci USA 2006, 103, 19243. (18) Song, H.; Chen, D. L.; Ismagilov, R. F. Angew Chem Int Edit 2006, 45, 7336. (19) van der Woerd, M.; Ferree, D.; Pusey, M. Journal of Structural Biology 2003, 142, 180. (20) Ng, J. D.; Gavira, J. A.; Garcia-Ruiz, J. M. Journal of Structural Biology 2003, 142, 218. (21) Talreja, S.; Kenis, P. J. A.; Zukoski, C. F. Langmuir 2007, 23, 4516. (22) Hansen, C. L.; Quake, S. R.; Berger, J. M. US, 2007. (23) Newman, J.; Fazio, V. J.; Lawson, B.; Peat, T. S. Cryst Growth Des 2010, 10, 2785. (24) Newman, J.; Xu, J.; Willis, M. C. Acta Crystallographica Section D 2007, 63, 826. (25) Collingsworth, P. D.; Bray, T. L.; Christopher, G. K. J Cryst Growth 2000, 219, 283. (26) Durbin, S. D.; Feher, G. Annu Rev Phys Chem 1996, 47, 171. (27) Talreja, S.; Kim, D. Y.; Mirarefi, A. Y.; Zukoski, C. F.; Kenis, P. J. A. J Appl Crystallogr 2005, 38, 988. (28) Yoshizaki, I.; Nakamura, H.; Sato, T.; Igarashi, N.; Komatsu, H.; Yoda, S. J Cryst Growth 2002, 237, 295. (29) Anderson, M. J.; Hansen, C. L.; Quake, S. R. P Natl Acad Sci USA 2006, 103, 16746. (30) Hansen, C. L.; Sommer, M. O. A.; Quake, S. R. P Natl Acad Sci USA 2004, 101, 14431. (31) Lounaci, M.; Rigolet, P.; Abraham, C.; Le Berre, M.; Chen, Y. Microelectron Eng 2007, 84, 1758. (32) Zheng, B.; Roach, L. S.; Ismagilov, R. F. J Am Chem Soc 2003, 125, 11170. (33) Zhou, X.; Lau, L.; Lam, W. W. L.; Au, S. W. N.; Zheng, B. Anal. Chem. 2007. (34) Cherezov, V.; Caffrey, M. J Appl Crystallogr 2003, 36, 1372. (35) Qutub, Y.; Reviakine, I.; Maxwell, C.; Navarro, J.; Landau, E. M.; Vekilov, P. G. J Mol Biol 2004, 343, 1243. (36) Rummel, G.; Hardmeyer, A.; Widmer, C.; Chiu, M. L.; Nollert, P.; Locher, K. P.; Pedruzzi, I.; Landau, E. M.; Rosenbusch, J. P. Journal of Structural Biology 1998, 121, 82. (37) Gavira, J. A.; Toh, D.; Lopez-Jaramillo, J.; Garcia-Ruiz, J. M.; Ng, J. D. Acta Crystallogr D 2002, 58, 1147. (38) Stevens, R. C. Current Opinion in Structural Biology 2000, 10, 558. (39) Baker, M. Nat Methods 2010, 7, 429. (40) McPherson, A. In Current Topics in Membranes, Volume 63; Volume 63 ed.; DeLucas, L., Ed.; Academic Press: 2009, p 5. (41) Gabrielsen, M.; Gardiner, A. T.; Fromme, P.; Cogdell, R. J. In Current Topics in Membranes, Volume 63; Volume 63 ed.; DeLucas, L., Ed.; Academic Press: 2009, p 127. (42) Page, R. In Methods in Molecular Biology: Structural Proteomics - High Throughput Methods; Kobe, B., Guss, M., Huber, T., Eds.; Humana Press: Totowa, NJ, 2008; Vol. 426, p 345. (43) Caffrey, M. Ann Rev Biophys 2009, 38, 29. (44) Doerr, A. Nat Methods 2006, 3, 244. (45) Brostromer, E.; Nan, J.; Li, L.-F.; Su, X.-D. Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications 2009, 386, 634. (46) Li, G.; Chen, Q.; Li, J.; Hu, X.; Zhao, J. Anal Chem 2010, 82, 4362. (47) Jia, Y.; Liu, X.-Y. The Journal of Physical Chemistry B 2006, 110, 6949. (48) RCSB Protein Data Bank. http://www.rcsb.org/ (July 11, 2010). (49) Membrane Proteins of Known 3D Structure. http://blanco.biomol.uci.edu/Membrane_Proteins_xtal.html (July 11, 2010). (50) Michel, H. Trends Biochem Sci 1983, 8, 56. (51) Rosenbusch, J. P. Journal of Structural Biology 1990, 104, 134. (52) Garavito, R. M.; Picot, D. Methods 1990, 1, 57. (53) Kulkarni, C. V. 2010; Vol. 12, p 237. (54) Landau, E. M.; Rosenbusch, J. P. P Natl Acad Sci USA 1996, 93, 14532. (55) Pebay-Peyroula, E.; Rummel, G.; Rosenbusch, J. P.; Landau, E. M. Science 1997, 277, 1676. (56) Cherezov, V.; Liu, W.; Derrick, J. P.; Luan, B.; Aksimentiev, A.; Katritch, V.; Caffrey, M. Proteins: Structure, Function, and Bioinformatics 2008, 71, 24. (57) Cherezov, V.; Rosenbaum, D. M.; Hanson, M. A.; Rasmussen, S. G. F.; Thian, F. S.; Kobilka, T. S.; Choi, H. J.; Kuhn, P.; Weis, W. I.; Kobilka, B. K.; Stevens, R. C. Science 2007, 318, 1258. (58) Cherezov, V.; Yamashita, E.; Liu, W.; Zhalnina, M.; Cramer, W. A.; Caffrey, M. J Mol Biol 2006, 364, 716. (59) Jaakola, V. P.; Griffith, M. T.; Hanson, M. A.; Cherezov, V.; Chien, E. Y. T.; Lane, J. R.; IJzerman, A. P.; Stevens, R. C. Science 2008, 322, 1211. (60) Rosenbaum, D. M.; Cherezov, V.; Hanson, M. A.; Rasmussen, S. G. F.; Thian, F. S.; Kobilka, T. S.; Choi, H. J.; Yao, X. J.; Weis, W. I.; Stevens, R. C.; Kobilka, B. K. Science 2007, 318, 1266. (61) Wacker, D.; Fenalti, G.; Brown, M. A.; Katritch, V.; Abagyan, R.; Cherezov, V.; Stevens, R. C. J Am Chem Soc 2010, 132, 11443. (62) Höfer, N.; Aragão, D.; Caffrey, M. Biophys J 2010, 99, L23. (63) Li, L.; Ismagilov, R. F. Ann Rev Biophys 2010. (64) Pal, R.; Yang, M.; Lin, R.; Johnson, B. N.; Srivastava, N.; Razzacki, S. Z.; Chomistek, K. J.; Heldsinger, D. C.; Haque, R. M.; Ugaz, V. M.; Thwar, P. K.; Chen, Z.; Alfano, K.; Yim, M. B.; Krishnan, M.; Fuller, A. O.; Larson, R. G.; Burke, D. T.; Burns, M. A. Lab Chip 2005, 5, 1024. (65) Jayashree, R. S.; Gancs, L.; Choban, E. R.; Primak, A.; Natarajan, D.; Markoski, L. J.; Kenis, P. J. A. J Am Chem Soc 2005, 127, 16758. (66) Wootton, R. C. R.; deMello, A. J. Chem Commun 2004, 266. (67) McPherson, A. J Appl Crystallogr 2000, 33, 397.

A furnace for in situ synchrotron Laue diffraction and its application to studies of solid-state phase transformations

The design of a new microfurnace for use for Laue diffraction studies of solid-state transformations is described. The furnace operates in the temperature range 298-573 K with a thermal stability of about ± 0.1 K. The potential of the synchrotron-radiation Laue diffraction technique for studies of structural phase transitions is demonstrated. Experimental data on phase transitions in caesium periodate, potassium tetrachlorozincate and pentaerythritol are presented.

Some historical extracts relevant to the discovery and application of the diffraction of X-rays by crystals to contribute to the centennial celebration and the International Year of Crystallography

Illustrative extracts from the writings of Paul P. Ewald and of Max von Laue are presented. The latter in turn contains extensive text contributions from William Lawrence Bragg. These selections we have chosen so as to indicate the nature of the discovery of X-ray diffraction from crystals (experiments undertaken by Friedrich, Knipping and von Laue) and its early and prompt application in crystal structure analyses (by William Henry Bragg and William Lawrence Bragg). The platform for these discoveries was provided by a macroscopic physics problem dealt with by Ewald in his doctoral thesis with Arnold Sommerfeld in the Munich Physics Department, which is also where von Laue was based. W.L. Bragg was a student in Cambridge who used Trinity College Cambridge as his address on his early papers; experimental work was done by him in the Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge, and also with his father, W.H. Bragg, in the Leeds University Physics Department. Of further historical interest is the award of an Honorary DSc (Doctor of Science) degree in 1936 to Max von Laue by the University of Manchester, UK, while William Lawrence Bragg was Langworthy Professor of Physics there. © 2012 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.

Study of Ion Transport in Lithium Perchlorate-Succinonitrile Plastic Crystalline Electrolyte via Ionic Conductivity and in Situ Cryo-Crystallography

Ion transport mechanism in lithium perchlorate (LiClO4)-succinonitrile (SN), a prototype of plastic crystalline soft matter electrolyte is discussed in the context of solvent configurational isomerism and ion solvation. Contributions of both solvent configurational isomerism and ion solvation are reflected in the activation energy for ion conduction in 0-1 M LiClO4-SN samples. Activation energy due to solvent configurational changes, that is, trans-gauche isomerism is observed to be a function of salt content and decreases in presence of salt (except at high salt concentrations, e.g. 1 M LiClO4-SN). The remnant contribution to activation energy is attributed to ion-association. The X-ray diffraction of single crystals obtained using in situ cryo-crystallography confirms directly the observations of the ionic conductivity measurements. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and NMR line width measurements provide additional support to our proposition of ion transport in the prototype plastic crystalline electrolyte.

Strategies for collecting screen-less oscillation data

Screen-less oscillation photography is the method of choice for recording three-dimensional X-ray diffraction data for crystals of biological macromolecules. The geometry of an oscillation camera is extremely simple. However, the manner in which the reciprocal lattice is recorded in any experiment is fairly complex. This depends on the Laue symmetry of the reciprocal lattice, the lattice type, the orientation of the crystal on the camera and to a lesser extent on the unit-cell dimensions. Exploring the relative efficiency of collecting X-ray diffraction data for different crystal orientations prior to data collection might reduce the number of films required to record most of the unique data and the consequent amount of time required for processing these films. Here algorithms are presented suitable for this purpose and results are reported for the 11 Laue groups, different lattice types and crystal orientations often employed in data collection.

Crystal Physics, Diffraction, Theoretical and General Crystallography

A formula has been derived for the mean-square error in the phases of crystal reflections determined through the multiwavelength anomalous scattering method. The error is written in terms of a simple function of the positions in the complex plane of the 'centres' corresponding to the different wavelengths. For the case of three centres, the mean-square error is inversely proportional to the area of the triangle formed by them. The theoretical values are in good agreement with those obtained by earlier workers from computer simulations. The present method makes it easier to optimize the number and the actual wavelengths to be employed in the multiwavelength method. The maximum benefits of this method are expected in experiments employing synchrotron radiation or neutrons.

Structural Crystallography and Crystal Chemistry

Abstract is not available.

Structural Crystallography and Crystal Chemistry

CaH406P-.K +, M r = 206.10, is orthorhombic, space group Pbca (from systematic absences), a = 14.538(4), b = 13.364(5), c = 6.880 (6)A, U = 1383.9 A 3, D x = 2.07 Mg m -a, Z = 8, ~.(Mo Ka) = 0.7107/~, p(MO Ka) = 1.015 mm -1. The final R value is 0.042 for a total of 1397 reflections. The high energy P-O(13) and the enolic C(1)-O(13) bonds are 1.612 and 1.374 A respectively. The enolpyruvate moiety is essentially planar. The orientation of the phosphate with respect to the pyruvate group in PEP.K is distinctly different from that in the PEP-cyclohexylammonium salt, the torsion angle C (2)-C (1)-O(13)- P being -209.1 in the former and -90 ° in the latter. The K + ion binds simultaneously to both the phosphate and carboxyl ends of the same PEP molecule. The ester O(13) is also a binding site for the cation. The K + ion is coplanar with the pyruvate moiety and binds to 0(22) and O(13) almost along their lone-pair directions. The carbonyl 0(22) prefers to bind to the K + ion rather than take part in the formation of hydrogen bonds usually observed in carboxylic acid structures.

A hybrid computer for X-ray crystallography

A hybrid computer for structure factor calculations in X-ray crystallography is described. The computer can calculate three-dimensional structure factors of up to 24 atoms in a single run and can generate the scatter functions of well over 100 atoms using Vand et al., or Forsyth and Wells approximations. The computer is essentially a digital computer with analog function generators, thus combining to advantage the economic data storage of digital systems and simple computing circuitry of analog systems. The digital part serially selects the data, computes and feeds the arguments into specially developed high precision digital-analog function generators, the outputs of which being d.c. voltages, are further processed by analog circuits and finally the sequential adder, which employs a novel digital voltmeter circuit, converts them back into digital form and accumulates them in a dekatron counter which displays the final result. The computer is also capable of carrying out 1-, 2-, or 3-dimensional Fourier summation, although in this case, the lack of sufficient storage space for the large number of coefficients involved, is a serious limitation at present.

1, 2-Bis (diphenylphosphino) etane bridged dinuclear copper (I) complexes: Investigations of solid state and solution structures by CP/MAS31P NMR spectroscopy, X-ray crystallography, IR spectroscopy and solution 31P NMR and 63Cu NMR spectroscopy

Three different complexes of copper (I) with bridging 1, 2-bis(diphenylphosphino)ethane (dppe), namely [Cu2 (mu-dppe) (CH3CN)6] (ClO4)2 (1), [Cu2 (mu-dppe)2 (CH3 CN)2] (ClO4)2 (2), and [Cu2 (mu-dppe) (dppe)2 (CH3CN)2] (ClO4)2 (3) have been prepared. The structure of [Cu2 (mu-dppe) (dPPe)2 (CH3CH)2] (ClO4)2 has been determined by X-ray crystallography. It crystallizes in the space group PT with a=12.984(6) angstrom, b=13.180(6) angstrom, c=14.001(3) angstrom, alpha=105.23(3), beta=105.60(2), gamma=112.53 (4), V=1944 (3) angstrom3, and Z=1. The structure was refined by least-squares method with R=0.0365; R(w)=0.0451 for 6321 reflections with F0 greater-than-or-equal-to 3 sigma (F0). The CP/MAS P-31 and IR spectra of the complexes have been analysed in the light of available crystallographic data. IR spectroscopy is particularly helpful in identifying the presence of chelating dppe. P-31 chemical shifts observed in solid state are very different from those observed in solution, and change significantly with slight changes in structure. In solution, complex 1 remains undissociated but complexes 2 and 3 undergo extensive dissociation. With a combination of room temperature H-1, Cu-63, and variable temperature P-31 NMR spectra, it is possible to understand the various processes occurring in solution.

Chiral polyhydroxylated tetrahydrothiophene derivatives: novel synthesis and structural elucidation by X-ray crystallography, NMR spectroscopy and molecular mechanics calculations

The dideoxygenation reaction of 1,3;4,6-di-O-alkylidene-2,5-di-S-methylthiocarbonyl-D-mannitol derivatives under Barton-McCombie reaction conditions gave the hexahydrodipyranothiophenes 4 and 7 instead of the expected 2,5-dideoxy products. Structural and conformational information on these novel derivatives has been obtained by NMR spectroscopy, single-crystal X-ray crystallography and molecular mechanics calculations.

Crystallography of solid-liquid interface and evolution of texture during directional solidification of Tb0.3Dy0.7Fe1.95 alloy

The effect of growth texture on the magnetostriction of ternary Tb0.3Dy0.7Fe1.95 was studied by conducting unidirectional solidification experiments using a zoning set-up. Detailed texture evolutions were studied using X-ray diffraction on samples obtained by varying growth rates from 18 to 72 cm/h, under a temperature gradient of 100 degrees C/cm. The estimated texture co-efficient and pole figures of the samples indicate that during the onset of the solidification, < 110 > and < 331 >/'rotated < 110 >' texture components nucleate and grow in all the samples. However, as the solidification progresses, < 112 > texture component becomes dominant at higher growth rate. This results in an improvement of magnetostriction from 1000 to 1300 microstrains for samples grown at growth rates of 18 and 72 cm/h respectively. The transition of preferred growth direction occurs through intermediate orientations < 123 >. An attempt has been made in this paper to explain the occurrence of different growth texture by considering the stability of growing interface, its planar packing fraction and atomic stacking sequence of several low index planes. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Polymorphs, Pseudopolymorphs, and Co-Crystals of Orcinol: Exploring the Structural Landscape with High Throughput Crystallography

An extensive search of the structural landscape of orcinol, 5-methyl-1,3-dihydroxybenzene, has been carried out with high throughput techniques. Polymorphs, pseudopolymorphs (solvates), and co-crystals are described. Several packing modes driven by O-H center dot center dot center dot N hydrogen bonds were identified for the orcinol N-base co-crystals and their hydrates. In these several structural variations, the OH group conformations in the orcinol molecule were found to depend on the choice of co-formers and the crystallization conditions employed. The structural landscape of a molecule is properly described by a sufficiently large number of related crystal structures, and high throughput crystallization followed by rapid structure determinations enables one to access these structures efficiently. Any understanding of this landscape would enable the crystal engineer to reasonably anticipate crystal structures of benzene-1,3-diol co-crystals with N-bases.