Most recent scientific results produced on an ELDICO ED-1 

Wed, 16.08.2023

Apart from the very precise and fast goniometer and the radically simplified electron beam and optical column, the ELDICO ED-1 shines with a unique design which offers yet unseen features that greatly expand the crystallographic possibilities. Read in this article about the most recent scientific publications based on data acquired on an ELDICO ED-1. 

More and more university research groups are taking advantage of its unprecedented analytical possibilities, as well as industrial partners who have access to the ELDICO ED-1 in our Basel Customer Experience Center and work together with the ELDICO team on challenging scientific questions. These collaborations have borne fruit in recent months. We are delighted to have published our first five scientific publications, including articles in Acta Crystallographica, European Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Nature Communications, Symmetry, and Imaging & Microscopy. 

In this blog post we give you a brief overview of the papers. We look forward to further exchanges with the scientific community, for example at the 26th IUCr Congress, which will take place next week in Melbourne, and at which ELDICO Scientific will once again be involved as a sponsor and with its own scientific contributions. 

“Electron crystallography and dedicated electron-diffraction instrumentation” 

P. Simoncic, E. Romeijn, E. Hovestreydt, G. Steinfeld, G. Santiso-Quiñones and J. Merkelbach; Acta Cryst. (2023). E79, 410. 

https://scripts.iucr.org/cgi-bin/paper?S2056989023003109

Invited contribution to the Acta Crystallographica E “Tools for Teaching Crystallography”. This article written by Eldico’s scientific team aims to provide an introduction into 3D electron diffraction for crystallography students and researchers not yet familiar with the technique. It highlights the advantages and challenges of 3D electron diffraction supported by several case studies of data collected on Eldico’s ED-1. 

“The polymorph landscape of dabigatran etexilate mesylate: Taking the challenge to bring a metastable polymorph to market“ 

P. Sieger, U. Werthmann, S. Saouane; European Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences (2023). 186, 106447.  

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejps.2023.106447

The article published by Eldico customer Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma GmbH, a pharma company which is a regular guest in ELDICOs Customer Experience Center in Basel, reports the structure of 3 polymorphs of Dabigatran etecilate mesylate, a thrombin inhibitor. The previously unknown structures were determined from electron diffraction data measured on Eldico’s ED-1 for the first time. The publication demonstrates the value Eldico’s services provided to the pharmaceutical industry as polymorph characterization is of great importance for drug development. 

“Saddles as rotational locks within shape-assisted self-assembled nanosheets” 

J.F. Woods, L. Gallego, A. Maisch, et al. Saddles as rotational locks within shape-assisted self-assembled nanosheets. Nat Commun (2023). 14, 4725.  

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-40475-8

Researches from the University of Zurich, National Research Council of Italy and the University of Strasbourg in collaboration with Eldico’s scientific team used 3D electron diffraction to determine the structure of two-dimensional self-assembled nanosheets of carpyridine derivates. The structural characterization of these novel materials contributes essentially to the understanding of their properties. The 2D nanosheets studied have the ability to form macroscopic conductive stacks and find potential applications in green electronics. 

“Absolute Structure Determination of Chiral Zinc Tartrate MOFs by 3D Electron Diffraction” 

C. Jandl, G. Steinfeld, K. Li, P.K.C. Pang, C.L. Choi, C. Wang, P. Simoncic, I.D. Williams; Symmetry (2023). 15, 983.  

https://doi.org/10.3390/sym15050983

The collaboration between researchers from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and Eldico’s scientific team has been showcased in an invited contribution to the MDPI journal Symmetry. The structure of 3D MOF anhydrous zinc (II) tartrate has been reported for the first time using electron diffraction data collected on ELDICO ED-1. Porous metal-organic compounds (MOFs) and the related inorganic zeolites find applications as catalysts and H2 storage. Therefore, a detailed understanding of the atomic structure is important for the chemical and petrochemical industries. However, these materials can often only be synthesized in the form of nanocrystals and are therefore preferable to study by electron diffraction. The article further highlights the potential of electron diffraction data to determine the absolute structure of enantiomers. 

“Crystal mapping by continuous rotation electron diffraction” 

J. Merkelbach, D. Stam, C. Jandl, V. Kushwah, A. Paudel, P. Simoncic; Imaging & Microscopy (2023). 3, 31. 

https://analyticalscience.wiley.com/do/10.1002/was.0004000393

Crystal mapping using the ELDICO ED-1 electron diffractometer, i.e. the mapping and screening of particles by STEM imaging with subsequential continuous rotation diffraction data collection, is a powerful tool to characterize the nature, presence and characteristics of impurities or unknown crystal forms and polymorphs in mixtures and powder samples of various materials. The method developed by Eldico is showcased in 2 examples covering the detection of impurities and the presence of crystallinity in amorphous solid dispersions.