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Updated: Mar 13, 2026

Optimization of Crystal Growth for Neutron Macromolecular Crystallography
Published on: March 13, 2021
Evidence from mixed hydrate nucleation for a funnel model of crystallization
Kyle Wm Hall1, Sheelagh Carpendale2, Peter G Kusalik3
1Department of Chemistry, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada T2N 1N4.
Abstract:
The molecular-level details of crystallization remain unclear for many systems. Previous work has speculated on the phenomenological similarities between molecular crystallization and protein folding. Here we demonstrate that molecular crystallization can involve funnel-shaped potential energy landscapes through a detailed analysis of mixed gas hydrate nucleation, a prototypical multicomponent crystallization process. Through this, we contribute both: (i) a powerful conceptual framework for exploring and rationalizing molecular crystallization, and (ii) an explanation of phenomenological similarities between protein folding and crystallization. Such funnel-shaped potential energy landscapes may be typical of broad classes of molecular ordering processes, and can provide a new perspective for both studying and understanding these processes.
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