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Updated: Feb 21, 2026

Optimization of Crystal Growth for Neutron Macromolecular Crystallography
Published on: March 13, 2021
Chemical reaction within a compact non-porous crystal containing molecular clusters without the loss of crystallinity
Ming Zhang1, Tao Yang2,1, Zhenxing Wang3
1Department of Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences , Guangxi Normal University , Key Laboratory for the Chemistry and Molecular Engineering of Medicinal Resources , Guilin , 541004 , P. R. China.
Abstract:
The very rare occurrence of a gas-solid chemical reaction has been found to take place on a molecule within a compact non-porous crystal without destroying its long-range structural order and retaining similar crystal structures when yellow crystals of FeII4(mbm)4Cl4(MeOH)4 were exposed to air to give black [FeIII4(mbm)4Cl4(OH)4]·2H2O. The latter cannot be synthesised directly. The original cluster underwent an exchange of methanol to hydroxide, an oxidation of Fe(ii) to Fe(iii), a change in stereochemistry and hydration while the packing and space-group remained unaltered.
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