Eldico’s key publications

Electron crystallography and dedicated electron-diffraction instrumentation

P. Simoncic, E. Romeijn, E. Hovestreydt, G. Steinfeld, G. Santiso-Quiñones and J. Merkelbach

Invited contribution to the Acta Crystallographica E “Tools for Teaching Crystallography”. This article written by Eldico’s scientific team aims to provide an introduction into 3D electron diffraction for crystallography students and researchers not yet familiar with the technique. It highlights the advantages and challenges of 3D electron diffraction supported by several case studies of data collected on ELDICO ED-1.

Acta Cryst. (2023). E79, 410.

Sieger, U. Werthmann, S. Saouane

The article published by the consortium member Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma GmbH reports the structure of 3 polymorphs of Dabigatran etecilate mesylate, a thrombin inhibitor. The previously unknown structures were determined from electron diffraction data measured on Eldico’s ED-1. The publication demonstrates the value Eldico’s services provided to the pharmaceutical industry as polymorph characterization is of great importance for drug development.

European Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences (2023). 186, 106447

J.F. Woods, L. Gallego, A. Maisch, et al

Researches from the University of Zurich, National Research Council of Italy and the University of Strasbourg in collaboration with Eldico’s scientific team used 3D electron diffraction to determine the structure of two-dimensional self-assembled nanosheets of carpyridine derivates. The characterization of self-assembled systems is important to understand natural molecular recognition processes such as enzyme catalysis.

Nat Communication (2023). 14, 4725

C. Jandl, G. Steinfeld, K. Li, P.K.C. Pang, C.L. Choi, C. Wang, P. Simoncic, I.D. Williams

The collaboration between researchers from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and Eldico’s scientific team has been showcased in an invited contribution to the MDPI journal Symmetry. The structure of 3D MOF anhydrous zinc (II) tartrate has been reported for the first time using electron diffraction data collected on ELDICO ED-1. The article further highlights the potential of electron diffraction data to determine the absolute structure of enantiomers.

Symmetry (2023). 15, 983

J. Merkelbach, D. Stam, C. Jandl, V. Kushwah, A. Paudel, P. Simoncic

Crystal mapping using the ELDICO ED-1 electron diffractometer, i.e. the mapping and screening of particles by STEM imaging with subsequential continuous rotation diffraction data collection, is a powerful tool to characterize the nature, presence and characteristics of impurities or unknown crystal forms and polymorphs in mixtures and powder samples of various materials. The method developed by Eldico is showcased in 2 examples covering the detection of impurities and the presence of crystallinity in amorphous solid dispersions.

Imaging & Microscopy (2023). 3, 31

E. Hovestreydt

Electron Diffraction (ED) is gaining momentum in science and industry. The application of ED for performing nanocrystallography is a disruptive innovation that is opening up fascinating new perspectives particularly for organic compounds required in the fields of chemical, pharmaceutical and advanced materials research.

Drug Discovery Today, 27, Issue 2, 2022,
371-373

Avital Wagner, Johannes Merkelbach, Laura Samperisi, Noam Pinsk, Benson M. Kariuki, Colan E. Hughes, Kenneth D. M. Harris, Benjamin A. Palmer

However, scientists from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Cardiff University and our application science team from Eldico Scientific AG have achieved a significant breakthrough in the structural determination of biogenic crystals from 3D electron diffraction (3D ED) data measured with the ELDICO ED-1. The team successfully determined the structure of individual crystals of biogenic guanine directly extracted from spider integument, scallop eyes and fish scales. The study highlights the potential of 3D ED in elucidating the structures of micrometer-to nanometer-sized biogenic molecular crystals, offering new insights into the development of organic biomineralization and the optical functions of these materials. The findings represent a crucial step forward in understanding and harnessing the potential of biogenic crystals for sustainable and bio-compatible optical applications.

Cryst. Growth Des. 2024, 24, 3, 899–905

Key Publications

Electron diffraction (ED) is one of the most rapidly developing and exciting areas of crystallography. In the last two years, every relevant congress dealing with crystallography, chemistry, materials science, geology or biomolecules has taken up the topic of ED. The publications are increasing rapidly. There is no doubt that ED is an important driving force for academic and industrial research and product development. In the following, we present a selection of the most relevant publications.

The big picture

“3D Electron Diffraction: The nano-crystallography revolution.” M. Gemmi, et al. ACS Cent Sci. 2019, 5, 1315-1329.

Papers from ELDICO SCIENTIFIC

“What are Electron Diffraction and Nano-crystallography and why are they so important for scientists, researchers and industry?” Dr. Gustavo Santiso-Quinones

“Can Electron Diffraction distinguish between carbon and nitrogen atoms? What about the protons? Experiments on [2H]-3-amino-1,2,4 triazole.” Gustavo Santiso-Quinones, Iryna Andrusenko, Mauro Gemmi, Enrico Mugnaioli

“Experiments on alpha-Glycine: getting data on a beam sensitive sample” Gustavo Santiso-Quinones, Iryna Andrusenko, Mauro Gemmi, Enrico Mugnaioli

Blogs from the scientific community

“Small Molecule Structures: A new World.” Science Translational Medicine 18-10-2018.

“Why didn’t we think to do this earlier? Chemists thrilled by speedy atomic structure.” Nature News 29-10-2018.

“Electron crystallography of small molecules: Big impact on science.” Dectris news 23-10-2018.

Major achievements in the past years

“Hydrogen positions in single nanocrystals revealed by electron diffraction.” L. Palatinus, et al. Science, 2017, 355, 166-169.

“Electron diffraction determines molecular absolute configuration in pharmaceutical nanocrystal.” L. Palatinus, et al. Science, 2019, 364, 667-669.

“Serial protein crystallography in an electron microscope.” R. J. Dwayne Miller, et al. Nature Communications, 2020, 11, 996.

“Polymorph evolution during crystal growth studied by 3D electron diffraction.” S. Parsons, et al. IUCrJ., 2020, 7, 5-9.

Various methods used in Electron Diffraction

“Towards automated diffraction tomography. Part II. Cell parameter determination.” U. Kolb, et al. et al. Ultramicroscopy 2008, 108, 763−772.

“Scanning reciprocal space for solving unknown structures: energy filtered diffraction tomography and rotation diffraction tomography methods.” M. Gemmi, P. Oleynikov. Z. Kristallogr. – Cryst. Mater. 2013, 228, 51−58.

“High-throughput continuous rotation electron diffraction data acquisition via software automation.” M. Cichocka et al., J. Appl. Cryst., 2018, 51, 1652–1661.

“Precession electron diffraction tomography for solving complex modulated structures: The case of Bi5Nb3O15.“ L. Palatinus, et al. Inorg. Chem., 2013, 52, 6127−6135.

“Collecting 3D electron diffraction data by the rotation method.” X. Zou et al. Z. Kristallogr., 2010, 225, 94−102.

“[Ti8Zr2O12(COO)16] cluster: An ideal inorganic building unit for photoactive metal−organic frameworks.” X. Zou et al. ACS Cent. Sci., 2018, 4, 105−111.

“The cryoEM method MicroED as a powerful tool for small molecule structure determination.” T. Gonen, et al. ACS Cent. Sci., 2018, 4, 1587−1592.

ELDICO Scientific AG
Park Innovaare - deliveryLAB
5234 Villigen
Switzerland