Chemical Crystallography

Chemical crystallography is used to determine the structures of compounds of chemical and biological interest from single crystals. These crystals are obtained from chemicals and tend to diffract strongly and to high resolution. It allows the experimental assignment of absolute structure with correct polarity and chirality — even for molecules without heavy atoms generating significant resonant scatter. The high flux of synchrotrons, together with fast detectors, has made it possible to observe real-time chemical reactions in crystals.