Solving Larger Molecular Crystal Structures from Powder Diffraction Data by Exploiting Anisotropic Thermal Expansion

Crystal clear! The routine collection of near single-crystal-quality diffraction data from a powdered sample is possible by exploiting the anisotropic thermal expansion of a molecular solid to enhance the extraction of diffracted intensities from a heavily overlapped powder diffraction pattern. The method is validated by the solution of the structure of 9-ethylbicyclo[3.3.1]nona-9-ol (see picture, O red, C blue, H gray) which is 50 % larger than other structures solved in a comparable way.