Room Temperature Structures of Solvated Organic Molecules Enabled by Liquid Cell Electron Diffraction
- 1Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Los Angeles, California 90095, United States
- 2UCLA-DOE Institute for Genomics and Proteomics; STROBE, NSF Science and Technology Center, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Los Angeles, California 90095, United States
Abstract
Electron diffraction (MicroED/3DED) enables atomic structure determination from nano- or microcrystals, including dry crystalline powders or mixtures. However, radiation damage and instrument vacuum can limit the interrogation of molecular crystals in solution at room temperature. We now present a strategy for room-temperature MicroED of organic molecular microcrystals suspended in solution, using simple liquid cells: grid sandwiches comprised of two continuous carbon grids that when pressed retain a thin liquid layer between them. In this setting, we find that some room-temperature, hydrated microcrystals are particularly prone to electron beam radiation damage, requiring fast, low dose data collection schemes, direct electron detectors, and multi-crystal data collection. These approaches minimize damage of crystals in liquid cells and facilitate ab initio structures at sub-Ångstrom resolution. This tactic enables study of molecular conformations and crystalline phases that may only be accessible in a room-temperature solvated state.
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BibTeX
@article{vlahakis2026room,
title = {{Room Temperature Structures of Solvated Organic Molecules Enabled by Liquid Cell Electron Diffraction}},
author = {Niko W. Vlahakis and Krzysztof Konieczny and Cameron W. Flowers and Miguel A. Garcia-Garibay and Jose A. Rodriguez},
journal = {ACS central science},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.1021/acscentsci.6c00603},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC13720921},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Room Temperature Structures of Solvated Organic Molecules Enabled by Liquid Cell Electron Diffraction
AU - Niko W. Vlahakis
AU - Krzysztof Konieczny
AU - Cameron W. Flowers
AU - Miguel A. Garcia-Garibay
AU - Jose A. Rodriguez
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/22
JO - ACS central science
DO - 10.1021/acscentsci.6c00603
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC13720921
AB - Electron diffraction (MicroED/3DED) enables atomic structure determination from nano- or microcrystals, including dry crystalline powders or mixtures. However, radiation damage and instrument vacuum can limit the interrogation of molecular crystals in solution at room temperature. We now present a strategy for room-temperature MicroED of organic molecular microcrystals suspended in solution, using simple liquid cells: grid sandwiches comprised of two continuous carbon grids that when pressed retain a thin liquid layer between them. In this setting, we find that some room-temperature, hydrated microcrystals are particularly prone to electron beam radiation damage, requiring fast, low dose data collection schemes, direct electron detectors, and multi-crystal data collection. These approaches minimize damage of crystals in liquid cells and facilitate ab initio structures at sub-Ångstrom resolution. This tactic enables study of molecular conformations and crystalline phases that may only be accessible in a room-temperature solvated state.
SN - 2374-7943
SN - 2374-7951
ER -