Insights into the crystallisation process from anhydrous, hydrated and solvated crystal forms of diatrizoic acid.

Diatrizoic acid (DTA), a clinically used X-ray contrast agent, crystallises in two hydrated, three anhydrous and nine solvated solid forms, all of which have been characterised by X-ray crystallography. Single-crystal neutron structures of DTA dihydrate and monosodium DTA tetrahydrate have been determined. All of the solid-state structures have been analysed using partial atomic charges and hardness algorithm (PACHA) calculations. Even though in general all DTA crystal forms reveal similar intermolecular interactions, the overall crystal packing differs considerably from form to form. The water of the dihydrate is encapsulated between a pair of host molecules, which calculations reveal to be an extraordinarily stable motif. DTA presents functionalities that enable hydrogen and halogen bonding, and whilst an extended hydrogen-bonding network is realised in all crystal forms, halogen bonding is not present in the hydrated crystal forms. This is due to the formation of a hydrogen-bonding network based on individual enclosed water squares, which is not amenable to the concomitant formation of halogen bonds. The main interaction in the solvates involves the carboxylic acid, which corroborates the hypothesis that this strong interaction is the last one to be broken during the crystal desolvation and nucleation process.

Intermolecular interactions in solid-state metalloporphyrins and their impacts on crystal and molecular structures.

A variable-temperature (VT) crystal structure study of [Fe(TPP)Cl] (TPP(2-) = meso-tetraphenylporphyrinate) and Hirshfeld surface analyses of its structures and previously reported structures of [M(TPP)(NO)] (M = Fe, Co) reveal that intermolecular interactions are a significant factor in structure disorder in the three metalloporphyrins and phase changes in the nitrosyl complexes. These interactions cause, for example, an 8-fold disorder in the crystal structures of [M(TPP)(NO)] at room temperature that obscures the M-NO binding. Hirshfeld analyses of the structure of [Co(TPP)(NO)] indicate that the phase change from I4/m to P1 leads to an increase in void-volume percentage, permitting additional structural compression through tilting of the phenyl rings to offset the close-packing interactions at the interlayer positions in the crystal structures with temperature decrease. X-ray and neutron structure studies of [Fe(TPP)Cl] at 293, 143, and 20 K reveal a tilting of the phenyl groups away from being perpendicular to the porphyrin ring as a result of intermolecular interactions. Structural similarities and differences among the three complexes are identified and described by Hirshfeld surface and void-volume calculations.

A (3 + 3)-dimensional "hypercubic" oxide-ionic conductor: type II Bi2O3-Nb2O5.

The high-temperature cubic form of bismuth oxide, δ-Bi2O3, is the best intermediate-temperature oxide-ionic conductor known. The most elegant way of stabilizing δ-Bi2O3 to room temperature, while preserving a large part of its conductivity, is by doping with higher valent transition metals to create wide solid-solutions fields with exceedingly rare and complex (3 + 3)-dimensional incommensurately modulated "hypercubic" structures. These materials remain poorly understood because no such structure has ever been quantitatively solved and refined, due to both the complexity of the problem and a lack of adequate experimental data. We have addressed this by growing a large (centimeter scale) crystal using a novel refluxing floating-zone method, collecting high-quality single-crystal neutron diffraction data, and treating its structure together with X-ray diffraction data within the superspace symmetry formalism. The structure can be understood as an "inflated" pyrochlore, in which corner-connected NbO6 octahedral chains move smoothly apart to accommodate the solid solution. While some oxide vacancies are ordered into these chains, the rest are distributed throughout a continuous three-dimensional network of wide δ-Bi2O3-like channels, explaining the high oxide-ionic conductivity compared to commensurately modulated phases in the same pseudobinary system.

Emergent frustration in co-doped ß-Mn.

We investigate low-temperature spin correlations in the metallic frustrated magnet ß-Mn1-xCox. Single-crystal polarized-neutron scattering experiments reveal the persistence of highly structured magnetic diffuse scattering and the absence of periodic magnetic order to T=0.05 K. We employ reverse Monte Carlo refinements and mean-field theory calculations to construct an effective Hamiltonian which accounts for the magnetic scattering. The interactions we identify describe an emergent spin structure which mimics the triangular lattice antiferromagnet, one of the canonical models of frustrated magnetism.

Uranium and thorium hydride complexes as multielectron reductants: a combined neutron diffraction and quantum chemical study.

The unusual uranium reaction system in which uranium(4+) and uranium(3+) hydrides interconvert by formal bimetallic reductive elimination and oxidative addition reactions, [(C(5)Me(5))(2)UH(2)](2) (1) ⇌ [(C(5)Me(5))(2)UH](2) (2) + H(2), was studied by employing multiconfigurational quantum chemical and density functional theory methods. 1 can act as a formal four-electron reductant, releasing H(2) gas as the byproduct of four H(2)/H(-) redox couples. The calculated structures for both reactants and products are in good agreement with the X-ray diffraction data on 2 and 1 and the neutron diffraction data on 1 obtained under H(2) pressure as part of this study. The interconversion of the uranium(4+) and uranium(3+) hydride species was calculated to be near thermoneutral (~-2 kcal/mol). Comparison with the unknown thorium analogue, [(C(5)Me(5))(2)ThH](2), shows that the thorium(4+) to thorium(3+) hydride interconversion reaction is endothermic by 26 kcal/mol.

Temperature dependent solid-state proton migration in dimethylurea-oxalic acid complexes.

The phenomenon of solid-state proton migration within molecular complexes containing short hydrogen bonds is investigated in two dimethylurea-oxalic acid complexes. Extensive characterisation by both X-ray and neutron diffraction shows that proton migration along the hydrogen bond can be induced in these complexes as a function of temperature. This emphasises the subtle features of the hydrogen bond potential well in such short hydrogen bonded complexes, both intrinsically and in the effect of the local crystalline environment. Based on these findings, the synthesis and analysis of a series of solid-state molecular complexes is shown to be a potential route to designing materials with tuneable proton migration effects.

Use of a miniature diamond-anvil cell in a joint X-ray and neutron high-pressure study on copper sulfate pentahydrate.

Single-crystal X-ray and neutron diffraction data are usually collected using separate samples. This is a disadvantage when the sample is studied at high pressure because it is very difficult to achieve exactly the same pressure in two separate experiments, especially if the neutron data are collected using Laue methods where precise absolute values of the unit-cell dimensions cannot be measured to check how close the pressures are. In this study, diffraction data have been collected under the same conditions on the same sample of copper(II) sulfate pentahydrate, using a conventional laboratory diffractometer and source for the X-ray measurements and the Koala single-crystal Laue diffractometer at the ANSTO facility for the neutron measurements. The sample, of dimensions 0.40 × 0.22 × 0.20 mm3 and held at a pressure of 0.71 GPa, was contained in a miniature Merrill-Bassett diamond-anvil cell. The highly penetrating diffracted neutron beams passing through the metal body of the miniature cell as well as through the diamonds yielded data suitable for structure refinement, and compensated for the low completeness of the X-ray measurements, which was only 24% on account of the triclinic symmetry of the sample and the shading of reciprocal space by the cell. The two data-sets were combined in a single 'XN' structure refinement in which all atoms, including H atoms, were refined with anisotropic displacement parameters. The precision of the structural parameters was improved by a factor of up to 50% in the XN refinement compared with refinements using the X-ray or neutron data separately.

Giant deuteron migration during the isosymmetric phase transition in deuterated 3,5-pyridinedicarboxylic acid.

Deuterated 3,5-pyridinedicarboxylic acid exhibits reversible temperature-induced deuteron migration of a magnitude unprecedented in this class of compounds. We used a combination of variable-temperature powder and single-crystal neutron diffraction and density functional theory (DFT)-based computational methods to elucidate the origin of this remarkable behaviour. Single-crystal neutron diffraction shows that between 15 and 300 K, the deuteron moves by 0.32(1) Å and the structure changes from a low-temperature N-D···O form to a high-temperature N···D-O form. Variable-temperature powder neutron-diffraction data, which was fitted by using parametric Rietveld refinement, show that this deuteron migration is due to an isosymmetric, first-order phase transition that occurs by growth of the daughter phase in the parent-phase matrix. Similar phase transitions are observed in two selectively deuterated forms of the material. DFT calculations demonstrate the role of phonons and show that vibrational free-energy stabilisation, which plays a key role in the observed structural phase transitions, is more pronounced in the fully deuterated material and proportional to the mass of the molecule, that is, the level of deuteration. This is consistent with our experimental work, for which distinct crystallographic phase transitions were clearly observed for the three deuterated systems, but not for the fully protonated material.

On the nature of the spin frustration in the CuO2 ribbon chains of LiCuVO4: crystal structure determination at 1.6 K, magnetic susceptibility analysis, and density functional evaluation of the spin exchange constants.

The spin-1/2 Cu(2+) ions of LiCuVO(4) form one-dimensional chains along the b direction, and the spin frustration in LiCuVO(4) is described in terms of the nearest-neighbor ferromagnetic exchange J(1) and the next-nearest-neighbor antiferromagnetic exchange J(2) in these chains. Recently, it has become controversial whether or not J(1) is stronger in magnitude than J(2). To resolve this controversy, we determined the crystal structure of LiCuVO(4) at 1.6 K by neutron diffraction, analyzed the magnetic susceptibility of LiCuVO(4) to deduce the Curie-Weiss temperature θ and the J(2)/J(1) ratio, and finally extracted the spin exchange constants of LiCuVO(4) on the basis of density functional calculations. Our work shows unambiguously that the Curie-Weiss temperature θ of LiCuVO(4) is negative in the range of -20 K, so that J(2) is substantially stronger in magnitude than J(1).

Beta-diketiminate-stabilized magnesium(I) dimers and magnesium(II) hydride complexes: synthesis, characterization, adduct formation, and reactivity studies.

The preparation and characterization of a series of magnesium(II) iodide complexes incorporating beta-diketiminate ligands of varying steric bulk and denticity, namely, [(ArNCMe)(2)CH](-) (Ar=phenyl, ((Ph)Nacnac), mesityl ((Mes)Nacnac), or 2,6-diisopropylphenyl (Dipp, (Dipp)Nacnac)), [(DippNCtBu)(2)CH](-) ((tBu)Nacnac), and [(DippNCMe)(Me(2)NCH(2)CH(2)NCMe)CH](-) ((Dmeda)Nacnac) are reported. The complexes [((Ph)Nacnac)MgI(OEt(2))], [((Mes)Nacnac)MgI(OEt(2))], [((Dmeda)Nacnac)MgI(OEt(2))], [((Mes)Nacnac)MgI(thf)], [((Dipp)Nacnac)MgI(thf)], [((tBu)Nacnac)MgI], and [((tBu)Nacnac)MgI(DMAP)] (DMAP=4-dimethylaminopyridine) were shown to be monomeric by X-ray crystallography. In addition, the related beta-diketiminato beryllium and calcium iodide complexes, [((Mes)Nacnac)BeI] and [{((Dipp)Nacnac)CaI(OEt(2))}(2)] were prepared and crystallographically characterized. The reductions of all metal(II) iodide complexes by using various reagents were attempted. In two cases these reactions led to the magnesium(I) dimers, [((Mes)Nacnac)MgMg((Mes)Nacnac)] and [((tBu)Nacnac)MgMg((tBu)Nacnac)]. The reduction of a 1:1 mixture of [((Dipp)Nacnac)MgI(OEt(2))] and [((Mes)Nacnac)MgI(OEt(2))] with potassium gave a low yield of the crystallographically characterized complex [((Dipp)Nacnac)Mg(mu-H)(mu-I)Mg((Mes)Nacnac)]. All attempts to form beryllium(I) or calcium(I) dimers by reductions of [((Mes)Nacnac)BeI], [{((Dipp)Nacnac)CaI(OEt(2))}(2)], or [{((tBu)Nacnac)CaI(thf)}(2)] have so far been unsuccessful. The further reactivity of the magnesium(I) complexes [((Mes)Nacnac)MgMg((Mes)Nacnac)] and [((tBu)Nacnac)MgMg((tBu)Nacnac)] towards a variety of Lewis bases and unsaturated organic substrates was explored. These studies led to the complexes [((Mes)Nacnac)Mg(L)Mg(L)((Mes)Nacnac)] (L=THF or DMAP), [((Mes)Nacnac)Mg(mu-AdN(6)Ad)Mg((Mes)Nacnac)] (Ad=1-adamantyl), [((tBu)Nacnac)Mg(mu-AdN(6)Ad)Mg((tBu)Nacnac)], and [((Mes)Nacnac)Mg(mu-tBu(2)N(2)C(2)O(2))Mg((Mes)Nacnac)] and revealed that, in general, the reactivity of the magnesium(I) dimers is inversely proportional to their steric bulk. The preparation and characterization of [((tBu)Nacnac)Mg(mu-H)(2)Mg((tBu)Nacnac)] has shown the compound to have different structural and physical properties to [((tBu)Nacnac)MgMg((tBu)Nacnac)]. Treatment of the former with DMAP has given [((tBu)Nacnac)Mg(H)(DMAP)], the X-ray crystal structure of which disclosed it to be the first structurally authenticated terminal magnesium hydride complex. Although attempts to prepare [((Mes)Nacnac)Mg(mu-H)(2)Mg((Mes)Nacnac)] were not successful, a neutron diffraction study of the corresponding magnesium(I) complex, [((Mes)Nacnac)MgMg((Mes)Nacnac)] confirmed that the compound is devoid of hydride ligands.

Re-investigation of the structure and crystal chemistry of the Bi2O3-W2O6 'type (Ib)' solid solution using single-crystal neutron and synchrotron X-ray diffraction.

Single crystals of composition Bi(35.66)W(4.34)O(66.51) (or Bi(8.2)WO(15.3), bismuth tungsten oxide), within the type (Ib) solid-solution region of the Bi(2)O(3)-WO(3) system, were synthesized using the floating-zone furnace method. Synchrotron X-ray and neutron single-crystal diffraction data were used to confirm the previously tentative assignment of the room-temperature space group as I4(1). Fourier analysis of the combined X-ray and neutron datasets was used to elucidate and refine fully the cation and anion arrays for the first time. The mixed cation site M1 is shown to be coordinated by eight O atoms in an irregular cube when M = Bi, and by six O atoms in an octahedron when M = W. The resulting disorder in the average structure around M1 is discussed in the context of experimentally observed oxide-ion conductivity.

Experimental and theoretical charge density study of polymorphic isonicotinamide-oxalic acid molecular complexes with strong O...H...N hydrogen bonds.

Two polymorphs of the 2:1 molecular complex of isonicotinamide and oxalic acid have been characterized by combined X-ray charge density and single-crystal neutron diffraction studies at 100 K. Both polymorphs show strong O-H...N intermolecular hydrogen bonding between the acid and the pyridine base. As is typical of short, strong hydrogen bonds (SSHBs), the covalent O-H bonds are considerably elongated to 1.161(3) and 1.235(5) A, and the H...N interactions are correspondingly short at 1.398(3) and 1.313(6) A in Forms I and II, respectively. The neutron diffraction data indicate no pronounced H dynamics in the SSHBs, and in the case of Form II the SSHB can be described as quasicentered. In addition to the experimental charge densities, theoretical charge densities have been determined from ab initio calculations within the full periodic environment of the crystalline state. The SSHBs are found to be covalent in nature according to the topological analysis of the experimental and theoretical charge densities and application of the source function. Aside from the SSHBs, moderate N-H...O and weak C-H...O interactions are also present in the molecular complexes, for which hydrogen bond energies are estimated from energy densities and independent ab initio calculations. Finally, an attempt is made to evaluate the intermolecular interactions governing the manifestation of polymorphism in this compound.

Large easy-plane anisotropy induced spin reorientation in magnetoelectric materials (Co4-x Mn x )Nb2O9.

Neutron powder diffraction experiments were carried out on the magnetoelectric compound series (Co4-x Mn x )Nb2O9 (x = 0, 1, 2, 3, 3.5, 3.9, 3.95 and 4) from base temperature to above their Néel temperatures. Their magnetic structures were analysed by using the irreducible representation analysis and Rietveld refinement method. Similar to Co4Nb2O9, the compounds with x ⩽ 3.9 have noncollinear in-plane magnetic structures (Γ6) with magnetic moments lying purely in the ab plane with certain canting angles. Mn4Nb2O9 has a collinear antiferromagnetic structure (Γ2) with magnetic moments aligning along the c axis. The compound of x = 3.95 shows two magnetic phases in the magnetization, which was confirmed to have the Γ2 magnetic structure above 60 K and develop a second Γ6 local phase in addition to the main Γ2 phase due to doping. This study indicates 2.5 at% Co2+ doping is sufficient to alter the collinear easy-axis magnetic structure of Mn4Nb2O9 into the noncollinear easy-plane magnetic structure, which is attributed to the large easy-plane anisotropy of Co2+ and relative small Ising-like anisotropy of Mn2+. The doping effects on the Néel temperature and occupancy are also discussed.

Symmetry-mode analysis for intuitive observation of structure-property relationships in the lead-free antiferroelectric (1-x)AgNbO3-xLiTaO3.

Functional materials are of critical importance to electronic and smart devices. A deep understanding of the structure-property relationship is essential for designing new materials. In this work, instead of utilizing conventional atomic coordinates, a symmetry-mode approach is successfully used to conduct structure refinement of the neutron powder diffraction data of (1-x)AgNbO3-xLiTaO3 (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.09) ceramics. This provides rich structural information that not only clarifies the controversial symmetry assigned to pure AgNbO3 but also explains well the detailed structural evolution of (1-x)AgNbO3-xLiTaO3 (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.09) ceramics, and builds a comprehensive and straightforward relationship between structural distortion and electrical properties. It is concluded that there are four relatively large-amplitude major modes that dominate the distorted Pmc21 structure of pure AgNbO3, namely a Λ3 antiferroelectric mode, a T4+ a - a - c 0 octahedral tilting mode, an H2 a 0 a 0 c +/a 0 a 0 c - octahedral tilting mode and a Γ4- ferroelectric mode. The H2 and Λ3 modes become progressively inactive with increasing x and their destabilization is the driving force behind the composition-driven phase transition between the Pmc21 and R3c phases. This structural variation is consistent with the trend observed in the measured temperature-dependent dielectric properties and polarization-electric field (P-E) hysteresis loops. The mode crystallography applied in this study provides a strategy for optimizing related properties by tuning the amplitudes of the corresponding modes in these novel AgNbO3-based (anti)ferroelectric materials.

Neutron diffraction studies on a 4-coordinate hydrogen atom in an yttrium cluster.

A four-coordinate hydrogen atom has been unambiguously located, by single-crystal neutron diffraction for the first time, in the center of the tetrahedral metal complex Y4H8(Cp')4(THF) [Cp'=C5Me4(SiMe3)]. The core of the molecule consists of a tetranuclear cluster with one interstitial, one face-bridging, and six edge-bridging hydride ligands. The compound was prepared via the reaction of YCp'(CH2SiMe3)2(THF) with gaseous H2. Neutron data were collected on a 4 mm3 crystal at the Quasi-Laue diffractometer VIVALDI at ILL (Grenoble)1a and on an 8 mm3 crystal at the SXD diffractometer at ISIS (Didcot). The final agreement factor is R = 8.9% for 4171 reflections. The existence of 4-coordinate hydrogen now completes the series of high-connectivity hydride ligands located in the interstitial cavities of molecular cluster complexes. We had previously reported the existence of 6-coordinate hydrogen in the octahedral cavity of [HCo6(CO)15]- in 1979, and 5-coordinate hydrogen in the square pyramidal cavities of [H2Rh13(CO)24]3- in 1997, also via single-crystal neutron analyses.

Phase transition sequences in tetramethylammonium tetrachlorometallates by X-ray diffraction and spectroscopic measurements.

The phase transition sequences of two members of the tetramethylammonium tetrachlorometallate(III) family of hybrid organic-inorganic salts have been determined and structurally characterized as a function of temperature for the first time. Unusually, a reduction in point-group symmetry with increasing temperature until reaching a cubic prototype phase is observed. Two additional intermediate phases are observed for Fe3+. First-principles calculations and the presence of short Cl...Cl contacts for Ga3+ suggest the [GaCl4]- anion to be conformationally hindered due to stronger lone-pair-σ-hole interactions. The conformationally more flexible Fe3+ structures show sublattice melting with the onset of rotational disorder in the [NMe4]+ cations occurring 40 K below the corresponding onset of rotational disorder in the [FeCl4]- sublattice.

Determination of the hydrogen absorption sites in Zn4O(1,4-benzenedicarboxylate) by single crystal neutron diffraction.

A variable temperature (5-300 K) single crystal Laue neutron diffraction study has been conducted, and the gas absorption sites within hydrogen-loaded Zn(4)O(1,4-benzenedicarboxylate) have been located.

Neutron and high-pressure X-ray diffraction study of hydrogen-bonded ferroelectric rubidium hydrogen sulfate.

The pressure- and temperature-dependent phase transitions in the ferroelectric material rubidium hydrogen sulfate (RbHSO4) are investigated by a combination of neutron Laue diffraction and high-pressure X-ray diffraction. The observation of disordered O-atom positions in the hydrogen sulfate anions is in agreement with previous spectroscopic measurements in the literature. Contrary to the mechanism observed in other hydrogen-bonded ferroelectric materials, H-atom positions are well defined and ordered in the paraelectric phase. Under applied pressure RbHSO4 undergoes a ferroelectric transition before transforming to a third, high-pressure phase. The symmetry of this phase is revised to the centrosymmetric space group P21/c, resulting in the suppression of ferroelectricity at high pressure.

Accurate hydrogen parameters for the amino acid L-leucine.

The structure of the primary amino acid L-leucine has been determined for the first time by neutron diffraction. This was made possible by the use of modern neutron Laue diffraction to overcome the previously prohibitive effects of crystal size and quality. The packing of the structure into hydrophobic and hydrophilic layers is explained by the intermolecular interaction energies calculated using the PIXEL method. Variable-temperature data collections confirmed the absence of phase transitions between 120 and 300 K in the single-crystal form.