Water 2010, 2(3), 333-350; https://doi.org/10.3390/w2030333
X-ray and Neutron Diffraction in the Study of Organic Crystalline Hydrates
Department of Chemistry, University of Durham, South Road, Durham, DH1 3LE, UK
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Received: 18 June 2010 / Revised: 5 July 2010 / Accepted: 6 July 2010 / Published: 9 July 2010
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Water: Facts without Myths)
Abstract
A review. Diffraction methods are a powerful tool to investigate the crystal structure of organic compounds in general and their hydrates in particular. The laboratory standard technique of single crystal X-ray diffraction gives information about the molecular conformation, packing and hydrogen bonding in the crystal structure, while powder X-ray diffraction on bulk material can trace hydration/dehydration processes and phase transitions under non-ambient conditions. Neutron diffraction is a valuable complementary technique to X-ray diffraction and gives highly accurate hydrogen atom positions due to the interaction of the radiation with the atomic nuclei. Although not yet often applied to organic hydrates, neutron single crystal and neutron powder diffraction give precise structural data on hydrogen bonding networks which will help explain why hydrates form in the first place. View Full-TextKeywords:
hydrate; single crystal diffraction; powder diffraction; neutrons; X-ray
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Fucke, K.; Steed, J.W. X-ray and Neutron Diffraction in the Study of Organic Crystalline Hydrates. Water 2010, 2, 333-350.