Invarioms for improved absolute structure determination of light-atom crystal structures.

The determination of molecular absolute configuration from an X-ray analysis for structures that contain only light elements is challenging owing to the weak anomalous dispersion signal. The achievable precision of the Flack x parameter for such structures is therefore limited, especially when the independent-atom model is employed. Invariom modelling can improve this situation. Invarioms are theoretically predicted pseudoatoms within the Hansen & Coppens multipole formalism. They are transferable from one molecule to another and provide generalized aspherical atomic form factors. It is shown that, by application of the invariom approach, the precision and standard uncertainty of the Flack x parameter and therefore the reliability of deducing molecular chirality in an absolute structure determination can be improved.

Reproducability and transferability of topological properties; experimental charge density of the hexapeptide cyclo-(D,L-Pro)2-(L-Ala)4 monohydrate.

The charge density of a hexapeptide was determined from high-resolution CCD area-detector experiments at 100 K. Two datasets, one from a rotating anode and a second one from synchrotron radiation, were measured and the results are compared. The data are interpreted in terms of the 'rigid pseudoatom' model. The topology of the experimental density is analyzed and compared with the topology of the constituting amino acids, and shows good agreement. All critical points of the electron density at the covalent and hydrogen bonds, as well as those of the Laplacian, were located. With respect to the transferability of electronic and bond topological properties the six peptide bonds were compared with values given in the literature.

Intra- and intermolecular topological properties of amino acids: a comparative study of experimental and theoretical results.

The charge densities rho(r) of the six amino acids L-Asn.H(2)O, DL-Glu.H(2)O, DL-Lys.HCl, DL-Pro.H(2)O, DL-Ser, and DL-Val were determined from high-resolution X-ray diffraction experiments at 100 K using synchrotron radiation and area detection (CCD) techniques. Bond topological parameters derived from these densities and from those of six additional amino acids published earlier are compared to each other and to the results of ab initio calculations. Experimental and theoretical properties for each chemically equivalent bond are in a fair agreement, and their variances are of similar magnitude. A noticeable outlier is the positive curvature of the density at the bond critical point, for which no correlation between the experimental and theoretical values can be established. The location of nonbonded valence shell charge concentrations derived from the crystalline densities scatter in a wider range than those obtained for the isolated molecules.

Topological properties of the peptide bond in glycyl-L-threonine dihydrate based on a fast synchrotron/CCD-diffraction experiment at 100 K.

The charge density of glycyl-L-threonine dihydrate is extracted from a synchrotron data set of 98405 reflections collected at 100 K with a Bruker CCD area detector up to a resolution of d=0.38 A (sintheta/lambda = 1.32 A 1). The data are interpreted in terms of the "rigid pseudoatom" model. The topology of the experimental density is analyzed and compared with the topology obtained experimentally for the constituting amino acids and to that derived from Hartree-Fock calculations for the isolated molecule. All critical points of the electron density at the covalent and hydrogen bonds, as well as those of the Laplacian, were located, thereby deriving quantitative topological data for the peptide and side chain bonds. Bond topological indices in the dipeptide compare well with those of the corresponding bonds in the building amino acids, thus suggesting transferability of electronic properties of atoms and functional groups when these are derived by Bader's partitioning. Discrepancies between theoretical and experimental results could be attributed to crystal field effects.

The low-temperature study of D- and DL-camphoric anhydride.

The low-temperature crystal stuctures of D- and DL-camphoric anhydride, C(10)H(14)O(3), have been determined by X-ray diffraction methods. Although the two enantiomers crystallize in different space groups, the cell volumes and densities are essentially the same. The six-membered rings deviate significantly from planarity, both exhibiting half-boat conformations. The dihedral angle between the six- and five-membered rings is 80.3 (1) degrees in both cases. The main difference in the molecular stuctures can be described by two torsion angles associated with the H atoms of the methyl substituents. The packing of the racemic and chiral structures are essentially the same.

On the errors in molecular dipole moments derived from accurate diffraction data.

The error in the molecular dipole moment as derived from accurate X-ray diffraction data is shown to be origin dependent in the general case. It is independent of the choice of origin if an electroneutrality constraint is introduced, even when additional constraints are applied to the monopole populations. If a constraint is not applied to individual moieties, as is appropriate for multicomponent crystals or crystals containing molecular ions, the geometric center of the entity considered is a suitable choice of origin for the error treatment.

Accurate experimental electronic properties of dl-proline monohydrate obtained within 1 Day

A 1-day x-ray diffraction experiment on dl-proline monohydrate was performed at 100 kelvin with synchrotron radiation and a charge-coupled device area detection technique. The accuracy of the charge density distribution and of the related electronic properties extracted from these data is comparable or even superior to the accuracy obtained from a 6-week experiment on dl-aspartic acid with conventional x-ray diffraction methods. A data acquisition time of 1 day is comparable to the time needed for an ab initio calculation on the isolated molecules. This technique renders larger molecular systems of biological importance accessible to charge density experiments.

The Gram-Charlier and multipole expansions in accurate X-ray diffraction studies: can they be distinguished?

The Gram-Charlier temperature factor formalism has been applied to a set of accurate low-temperature data on bis(pyridine)(meso-tetraphenylporphinato)iron(II), and to a theoretical set of static structure factors on the hexaaquairon(II) ion. The refinements are compared with the multipole treatment for atomic asphericity due to chemical bonding. In a treatment of the experimental data in which only the iron atom asphericity is considered, the 'thermal motion' formalism is as efficient as the multipole formalism in accounting for the observations. It is slightly less efficient when applied to the static theoretical data, though model maps based on the two treatments are remarkably similar. A high-order Gram-Charlier refinement of the porphyrin data, followed by a multipole refinement of all data with the Gram-Charlier parameters initially fixed, and later varied, shows that simultaneous refinement of anharmonic and aspherical effects is possible, though the resulting separation may not be accurate. A combined Gram-Charlier multipole refinement on the static data, however, leads to non-significant thermal parameters. It is concluded that the statistical Gram-Charlier formalism is remarkably successful in representing bonding effects in the valence charge density if these are not specifically accounted for in the scattering formalism. Statistical anharmonic thermal motion formalisms should only be used for X-ray data analysis in combination with a formalism accounting for the effect of bonding on the atomic charge density.