Solution of the Crystal and Molecular Structure of Complex Low-Symmetry Organic Compounds with Powder Diffraction Techniques: Fluorescein Diacetate

Without any prior knowledge of the molecular structure, all 31 carbon and oxygen atoms of fluorescein diacetate were accurately located based on a high-resolution powder diffraction experiment. Direct methods and Fourier recycling were used. This represents a considerable advance with respect to the size of an organic molecule whose structure can be solved by ab initio methods from measurements on a powder.