Using Partial Structure R1 to Determine Small-Molecule Crystal Structures at the Lowest Resolution Limits

TL;DR

This study demonstrates that the partial structure R1 (pR1) method can determine small-molecule crystal structures at very low resolutions where traditional methods like SHELXT fail, by analyzing specific structures with varying atom counts.

Contribution

The paper introduces the application of the pR1 method for solving small-molecule crystal structures at the lowest resolution limits, complementing existing methods like SHELXT.

Findings

pR1 can determine structures at resolutions as low as 1.2 Å.

The sR1 method effectively identifies individual atoms at low resolution.

pR1 extends the solvable resolution range beyond traditional methods.

Abstract

This paper explores the lowest data resolution at which the partial structure R1 (pR1) method can determine a small-molecule crystal structure. Three specific structures have been studied. For a structure having 4 S atoms out of total 32 atoms in its unit cell, the lowest structure-solvable resolution is 1.5 A, and at this resolution all the atoms are individually searchable by the sR1 method (a specialized form of the pR1 method in which the partial structure contains a single atom). For the other two samples, which have 46 and 156 C atoms in their unit cells, respectively, the lowest structure-solvable resolutions are 1.5 A and 1.2 A, respectively, and both require a combination of the pR1 and the sR1 methods to determine their structures at these resolution limits. In all three cases, the usual choice of method for solving a small-molecule crystal structure, namely, the SHELXT program, is not applicable. Therefore, the pR1 method complements the SHELXT for determination of a small-molecule crystal structure at these lowest resolution limits.