Continuing Bragg Legacy of Structure Determination

Published in the journal Nature Chemistry today, Associate Professors Christian Doonan and Christopher Sumby and their team in the School of Chemistry and Physics, have developed a new material for examining structures using X-rays without first having to crystallise the substance.

“2014 is the International Year of Crystallography, recognising the importance of this 100-year-old science and how it underpins a vast range of the technological developments of our modern society,” says Associate Professor Sumby.

“Today, crystallography is an area of science that’s still providing new insights into the structures of materials – our new research is a prime example of that. It allows us to study chemical reactions that have just happened, or potentially even while they are still happening, which we can’t do using normal crystallography.”

The researchers are using a new nanomaterial – called a metal-organic framework – to bind the metal complex catalyst and its chemical reactants in place.

“We can then examine the structures of the reaction products using X-rays without having to isolate the product or grow crystals,” says Associate Professor Doonan.

“We are effectively taking snap-shots of the chemistry, enabling us to study the reaction products in their native state. In this way we can provide structural evidence for the chemical transformations that are taking place.”

The research, being undertaken in the Centre for Advanced Nanomaterials, is supported by the Australian Research Council and the Science and Industry Endowment Fund.

Sir William Bragg started his work on X-rays and crystal structure when he was Elder Professor of Mathematics and Physics at the University of Adelaide. His son Lawrence was a graduate of the University. The new work is being carried out in the Bragg Crystallography Facility at the University’s North Terrace campus.

Media Contact:

Associate Professor Chris Sumby
Deputy Director, Centre for Advanced Nanomaterials
School of Chemistry and Physics
The University of Adelaide
Phone: +61 8 8313 7406
Mobile: +61 (0)468 776 825
christopher.sumby@adelaide.edu.au

Associate Professor Christian Doonan
Director, Centre for Advanced Nanomaterials
School of Chemistry and Physics
The University of Adelaide
Phone: +61 8 8313 5770
Mobile: +61 (0)468 736 709
christian.doonan@adelaide.edu.au

Robyn Mills
Media Officer
The University of Adelaide
Phone: +61 8 8313 6341
Mobile: +61 410 689 084
robyn.mills@adelaide.edu.au

Media Contact

Robyn Mills newswise

All latest news from the category: Life Sciences and Chemistry

Articles and reports from the Life Sciences and chemistry area deal with applied and basic research into modern biology, chemistry and human medicine.

Valuable information can be found on a range of life sciences fields including bacteriology, biochemistry, bionics, bioinformatics, biophysics, biotechnology, genetics, geobotany, human biology, marine biology, microbiology, molecular biology, cellular biology, zoology, bioinorganic chemistry, microchemistry and environmental chemistry.

Back to home

Comments (0)

Write a comment

Newest articles

Lighting up the future

New multidisciplinary research from the University of St Andrews could lead to more efficient televisions, computer screens and lighting. Researchers at the Organic Semiconductor Centre in the School of Physics and…

Researchers crack sugarcane’s complex genetic code

Sweet success: Scientists created a highly accurate reference genome for one of the most important modern crops and found a rare example of how genes confer disease resistance in plants….

Evolution of the most powerful ocean current on Earth

The Antarctic Circumpolar Current plays an important part in global overturning circulation, the exchange of heat and CO2 between the ocean and atmosphere, and the stability of Antarctica’s ice sheets….

Partners & Sponsors