Electron crystallography of organic and biological molecules—Techniques and comparison to X-ray crystallographic results

Abstract

In this review, it is shown how ab initio analyses of molecular crystal structures can be carried out with electron diffraction intensities and high-resolution, low-dose, electron micrographs, dispelling the long-held myth that such determinations are not possible. The results for small organics, polymethylene compounds, various polymers, and even intergral membrane proteins, are in good agreement with independent X-ray crystal structure determinations, which, however, were not needed to solve the crystallographic phase problem from the electron scattering data. The concept of electron crystallography benefits from the utility of electron micrographs for providing phase information, in addition to the standard ‘direct’ methods used nowadays by all crystallographers.