Abstract
Synchrotron radiation has many compelling advantages over conventional radiation sources in the measurement of accurate Bragg diffraction data. The variable photon energy and much higher flux may help to minimize critical systematic effects such as absorption, extinction and anomalous scattering. Based on a survey of selected published results from the last decade, the benefits of using synchrotron radiation in the determination of X-ray electron densities are discussed, and possible future directions of this field are examined.
Highlights
Since the first X-ray diffraction experiments more than a century ago, the field of crystallography has advanced with tremendous speed
Jørgensen et al Contemporary X-ray electron-density studies minute sample ($20 mm) was used, as larger samples showed merohedral twinning, and the scattering power of the small sample could not be measured at a conventional X-ray source
To study the perturbation of the electron density (ED) upon the inclusion of guest molecules, a crystal of -hydroquinone with acetonitrile was prepared. This system displays pseudosymmetry, with a nearly centrosymmetric host but noncentrosymmetry of the guest molecules. This leads to a group of very weak reflections, which could not be collected using conventional X-ray sources
Summary
Since the first X-ray diffraction experiments more than a century ago, the field of crystallography has advanced with tremendous speed. This evolution has been driven by better hardware, by exponential growth in computing power, and especially by better and brighter X-ray sources. Only a minor fraction of the published ED literature has been based on experiments using SR. In this short review, we will discuss the advantages and drawbacks of synchrotron radiation for ED studies based on results published during the last decade. A review of the field prior to 2004 was published by Coppens et al (2005)
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