EXAFS as a tool for bond-length determination in the environment of heavy atoms

Single crystal X-ray diffraction measurements are complicated in the presence of heavy atoms. In these cases the structure factors are mainly influenced by the heavy scatterers and the error in determination of atomic coordinates increases for light atoms. The difficulties grow if the unit cell dimensions or the space group symmetry remain uncertain. If the structure model is similar to the correct structure, it is difficult to find an independent criterion for the accuracy of the bond-length determination. We demonstrate that extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) spectroscopy is a useful tool for the investigation of local bond lengths in the environment of heavy atoms.