Small Molecule Microcrystal Electron Diffraction for the Pharmaceutical Industry-Lessons Learned From Examining Over Fifty Samples.

The emerging field of microcrystal electron diffraction (MicroED) is of great interest to industrial researchers working in the drug discovery and drug development space. The promise of being able to routinely solve high-resolution crystal structures without the need to grow large crystals is very appealing. Despite MicroED's exciting potential, adoption across the pharmaceutical industry has been slow, primarily owing to a lack of access to specialized equipment and expertise. Here we present our experience building a small molecule MicroED service pipeline for members of the pharmaceutical industry. In the past year, we have examined more than fifty small molecule samples submitted by our clients, the majority of which have yielded data suitable for structure solution. We also detail our experience determining small molecule MicroED structures of pharmaceutical interest and offer some insights into the typical experimental outcomes. This experience has led us to conclude that small molecule MicroED adoption will continue to grow within the pharmaceutical industry where it is able to rapidly provide structures inaccessible by other methods.

Bioinspired helical microswimmers based on vascular plants.

Plant-based bioinspired magnetically propelled helical microswimmers are described. The helical microstructures are derived from spiral water-conducting vessels of different plants, harnessing the intrinsic biological structures of nature. Geometric variables of the spiral vessels, such as the helix diameter and pitch, can be controlled by mechanical stretching for the precise fabrication and consistent performance of helical microswimmers. Xylem vessels of a wide variety of different plants have been evaluated for the consistency and reproducibility of their helical parameters. Sequential deposition of thin Ti and Ni layers directly on the spiral vessels, followed by dicing, leads to an extremely simple and cost-efficient mass-production of functional helical microswimmers. The resulting plant-based magnetic microswimmers display efficient propulsion, with a speed of over 250 µm/s, as well as powerful locomotion in biological media such as human serum. The influence of actuation frequencies on the swimming velocity is investigated. Such use of plant vessels results in significant savings in the processing costs and provides an extremely simple, cost-effective fabrication route for the large-scale production of helical magnetic swimmers.

Organized self-assembly of Janus micromotors with hydrophobic hemispheres.

Organized self-assemblies of Janus catalytic motors, induced by hydrophobic surface interactions involving multiple motor/motor and motor/nonmotor particles, display controlled coordinated self-propulsion. The influence of the self-assembled structures upon the motion behavior is investigated. A dynamic 'on-the-fly' assembly is observed during the continuous movement of the individual components, along with changes in the motion behavior. Organized assemblies of multiple motor/nonmotor particles are also illustrated toward optimal cargo transport and delivery. Such controlled structures and motion of chemically powered Janus micromotor assemblies hold considerable promise for the creation of intelligent nanomachines that perform collective tasks.