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Updated: May 31, 2026

Optimization of Crystal Growth for Neutron Macromolecular Crystallography
Published on: March 13, 2021
Crystalline, liquid crystalline, and isotropic phases of sodium deoxycholate in water
Ziyang Su1, Suman Luthra, Joseph F Krzyzaniak
1Department of Industrial and Physical Pharmacy, School of Pharmacy, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907, USA.
Abstract:
Sodium deoxycholate (NaDC) is an important example of bile salts, representing systems with complex phase behavior involving both crystalline and mesophase structures. In this study, properties of NaDC-water mixtures were evaluated as a function of composition and temperature via X-ray diffraction with synchrotron (sXRD) and laboratory radiation sources, water sorption, polarized light, hot-stage microscopy, and freezing-point osmometry. Several phases were detected depending on the composition and temperature, including isotropic solution phase, liquid crystalline (LC) phase, crystalline hydrate, and ice. The LC phase was identified as hexagonal structure by sXRD, with up to 14 high-order reflections detected. The crystalline phase was found to be nonstoichiometric hydrate, based on XRD and water sorption data. The phase diagram of NaDC-water system has been refined based on both results of this study and other reports in literature.
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