Bringing the 4th Dimension to Chemical Crystallography - Time Resolved Photocrystallography

了解材料的结构对原子分辨率的重要性，即原子之间连接性的数量和性质，是理解材料性质的基础。X射线结晶学是获得固体材料详细结构的最好方法，它提供了结构的3D图像。然而，到目前为止，这是一种只看起来像处于基态(非反应)的分子的技术。在这个方案中，我们第一次希望将时间维度引入到结晶学实验中。通过将X射线实验与同步光源相结合，将分子激活到激发(反应)状态，我们将观察寿命为微秒甚至纳秒的物种的结构。为了实现这一点，我们需要在这些光反应分子周围建立保护性的分子笼子，并使用时间分辨红外技术比较它们的固态行为和溶液中的行为。

The importance of knowing the structure of a material to atomic resolution, the number and nature of the connectivities between the atoms, is fundamental in understanding the properties of the material. X-ray crystallography is the best method of obtaining the detailed structure of solid materials, and provides a 3D picture of the structure. However, until now, it is a technique that only looks as molecules in their ground (unreactive) state. In this proposal, for the first time, we wish to introduce the dimension of time into the crystallographic experiment. By combining the X-ray experiment with a synchronised light source, that activates the molecules into an excited (reactive) state, we will look at the structures of species with lifetimes of microseconds or even nanoseconds. To achieve this we need to build protective molecular cages around these photoreactive molecules, and to compare their solid state behaviour with what occurs in solution using time resolved IR techniques.