Determining a molecule’s 3-D structure — important for drug development, forensic science and food production, among other fields — has never been easy. A popular method is a technique known as X-ray crystallography: Compounds are placed in a solution that promotes crystal growth. A single crystal is isolated and bombarded with X-rays, and the resulting patterns of diffraction are analyzed for clues about the molecule’s architecture. Some substances resist crystallization, but a technique introduced in March may help chemists map their dimensions as well.
Makoto Fujita and his team from Japan’s University of Tokyo created scaffolding-like crystalline structures known as metal-organic frameworks, or MOFs, whose empty spaces can soak up molecules and provide an ordered array that enables the molecules to then be characterized by X-ray analysis. The discovery was quickly hailed as a game changer for its ease, efficiency and performance with substances that refuse to crystallize.
Initial setbacks ...
