Application by the School of Chemistry and the School of Pharmacy, University of East Anglia, for enhanced single-crystal X-ray diffraction facilities

我们正在战略设备流程下请求资源，用于双探针单晶x射线衍射系统，以支持英格兰东部分子科学的广泛研究和开发计划，并将该设施建立为区域中心。单晶x射线衍射测定分子结构是一项关键的分析技术，它提供了关于固体化合物的组成、化学键、立体化学、分子内和分子间相互作用和相变化的信息。它通常也是最便宜的精确分析形式。该提案旨在利用过去15年来晶体学技术的变化，提供一种能够生成从小分子晶体到生物材料的各种化合物的结构信息的新系统。这个新设施将提供大大提高的能力，而不仅仅是简单地取代现有的过时设备，这些设备在经济上已经变得不可持续。它将能够处理更小的晶体并更快地获取数据，使我们能够扩大用户基础并解决更广泛的问题，包括我们以前无法进行的实验，例如研究药物材料中温度依赖的相变。考虑到研究中心在英格兰东部的地理分布，该仪器对东英吉利大学具有关键的战略意义，并将作为一个普遍可访问的共享诺里奇研究园（NRP）设施运行。大学已同意提供长期的管理和维修支援，以确保补助金期满后继续成功运作。

We are requesting resources under the Strategic Equipment Process for a dual-probe single-crystal X-ray diffraction system to underpin a broad range of research and development programmes in molecular sciences in Eastern England and to establish this facility as a regional centre. The determination of molecular structure by single-crystal X-ray diffraction is a key analytical technique, unrivalled in the information it provides about constitution, chemical bonding, stereochemistry, intra- and intermolecular interactions and phase changes of solid compounds. It is also often the cheapest form of precision analysis. This proposal seeks to take advantage of the technological step-changes in crystallography in the last 15 years to provide a new system capable of generating structural information on a wide range of compounds, from small molecule crystals to bio materials. This new facility will offer much improved capability, well beyond simply replacing the existing outdated equipment that has become economically unsustainable. It will be able to handle much smaller crystals and acquire data much faster, enabling us to broaden the user base and to tackle a much wider range of problems, including experiments we were not able to carry out before, such as the study of temperature-dependent phase changes in pharmaceutical materials. Given the geographical distribution of research centres in Eastern England, this instrumentation is of key strategic importance to UEA and will be operated as a generally accessible shared Norwich Research Park (NRP) facility. The University has agreed to provide long term management and maintenance support to ensure the continued successful operation beyond the lifetime of the grant.