Data Collection Service For Nano Crystals

Rigaku offers a crystal structure determination service with scientific support, with data collection on a XtaLAB Synergy-ED diffractometer in Rigaku's own laboratories.

Access our electron diffraction service delivering all structural information, datasets, raw data files and software to re-process at your own leisure. Electron diffraction can be carried out on samples with crystallites under 1 micron in size, meaning that crystallization trials for traditional X-ray analysis no longer have to become a bottle neck to structural analysis.

What you will receive:

Full experiment(s) with frames.
CrysAlis^Pro ED data processing software
AutoChem enabled datasets for automatic structure solutions.
Initial structure solution model
Help with description of experimental section regarding XtaLAB Synergy-ED data will be provided.
Access to expert applications team for data processing support
Complimentary access to Rigaku’s electron diffraction forum
Cryo transfer available for hydrated or solvated samples

Featured paper: Data collected on XtaLAB Synergy-ED: Selective photoinduced charge separation in perylenediimide-pillar[5]arene rotaxanes, Nature Communications, 13 (2022)

Fully integrated electron diffractometer

XtaLAB Synergy-ED is a new and fully integrated electron diffractometer, creating a seamless workflow from data collection to structure determination of three-dimensional molecular structures. The XtaLAB Synergy-ED is the result of an innovative collaboration to synergistically combine our core technologies: Rigaku’s high-speed, high-sensitivity photon-counting detector (HyPix-ED) and state-of-the-art instrument control and single crystal analysis software platform (CrysAlis^Pro for ED), and JEOL’s long-term expertise and market leadership in designing and producing transmission electron microscopes. The key feature of this product is that it provides researchers an integrated platform enabling easy access to electron crystallography. The XtaLAB Synergy-ED is a system any X-ray crystallographer will find intuitive to operate without having to become an expert in electron microscopy.

What is ED?

Three-dimensional electron diffraction (3D-ED), equivalently referred to as microcrystal electron diffraction (MicroED) is a revolutionary technique, which allows for solving atomic structures from single sub-micron crystals within minutes. This is achieved by conducting single-crystal diffraction with electrons instead of X-rays, which not only interact up to six orders of magnitude more strongly with matter, but also are less damaging to sensitive materials. Hence, even for challenging samples such as pharmaceuticals, mesoporous compounds or proteins, 3D-ED/MicroED offers an excellent alternative to synchrotron or PXRD, if only micro- or nanocrystals are available. Sophisticated data collection and processing techniques have been developed over the last years, which furthermore allow for determination of absolute configuration, as well as mapping of polymorph mixtures. 3D-ED/MicroED can be conducted within adapted electron microscopes, or, more recently, in dedicated electron diffractometers, such as Rigaku’s XtaLAB Synergy-ED.

Notable papers

3D Electron Diffraction: The Nanocrystallography Revolution by Mauro Mauro Gemmi, Enrico Mugnaioli, Tatiana E. Gorelik, Ute Kolb, Lukas Palatinus, Philippe Boullay, Sven Hovmöller, and Jan Pieter Abrahams.

This article reviews most important 3D electron diffraction (3D-ED/MicroED) applications for different kinds of samples and problematics, related with both materials and life sciences.

Electron diffraction determines molecular absolute configuration in a pharmaceutical nanocrystal by Petr Brázda, Lukáš Palatinus and Martin Babor
Chirality and accurate structure models by exploiting dynamical effects in continuous-rotation 3D ED data by Paul Klar,Yasar Krysiak, Hongyi Xu, Gwladys Steciuk, Jung Cho, Xiaodong Zou, Lukáš Palatinus

Determination of the absolute configuration of organic molecules is essential in drug development and the subsequent approval process. In Brázda et al. it was shown for first time, that this determination is possible through electron diffraction using nanocrystalline material, making use of dynamical diffraction effects.

Building upon this ground-breaking result, in Klar et al., it is demonstrated that significant improvement of refinement quality and determination of absolute structures via dynamical diffraction can be applied routinely to a wide range of sample classes.

Microcrystal electron diffraction in macromolecular and pharmaceutical structure determination by Max T. B. Clabbers, Hongyi Xu
MicroED for the study of protein–ligand interactions and the potential for drug discovery by Lisa J. Clark, Guanhong Bu, Brent L. Nannenga & Tamir Gonen

The review papers by Clabbers et al. and Clark et al. specifically discuss the new opportunities opened up by 3D-ED/MicroED for drug discovery, fragment screening, and study of protein-ligand complexes

Can 3D electron diffraction provide accurate atomic structures of metal–organic frameworks? by Zhehao Huang, Meng Ge, Francesco Carraro, Christian Doonan, Paolo Falcaro and Xiaodong Zou

Mesoporous framework structures pose a particular challenge for crystallographic structure determination due to their small crystal sizes and high radiation sensitivity. These issues can be readily overcome by 3D-ED/MicroED, which has been shown for the example of a metal-organic frameworks in the article by Huang et al.

Towards automated diffraction tomography: Part I—Data acquisition by U.Kolb, T.Gorelik, C.Kübel, M.T.Otten, & D.Hubert
Collecting 3D electron diffraction data by the rotation method by Daliang Zhang, Peter Oleynikov, Sven Hovmöller and Xiaodong Zou
Three-dimensional electron crystallography of protein microcrystals by Dan Shi, Brent L Nannenga, Matthew G Iadanza, Tamir Gonen
A Medipix quantum area detector allows rotation electron diffraction data collection from submicrometre three-dimensional protein crystals by I. Nederlof, E. van Genderen, Y.-W. Li and J. P. Abrahams

The foundations of modern 3D-ED/MicroED techniques have been laid by groups from, among others, Mainz, Stockholm, HHMI Janelia and Leiden, who creatively combined approaches from electron microscopy and single-crystal X-ray diffraction. These publications from the early days of 3D-ED/MicroED present their ground-breaking research.

Testimonials

Micro-ED is new emerging field that is game changer in structural characterization, especially in pharmaceutical field. In our field, it is not uncommon that we have form that is unstable, cannot be made as single crystal, etc while having crystal structure is unequivocally important for project decision. We used to solve the structure from PXRD data, but access to synchrotron and time needed to solve and refine the structure are sometimes not suitable for early drug development where speed matters.

Rigaku is forefront in making instrumentation for MicroED and development of Synergy ED is a real game changer. I have been working with different companies offering MicroED, and so far Rigaku provides the best support and data with the quickest turn around. The service is exceptional! The service is also a good way to provide real case to acquire this capability in-house or with the collaboration with local partner.

--Researcher from pharmaceutical company

Book your service