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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Dec 17, 2025

$Microcrystal Electron Diffraction of Small Molecules$

Microcrystal Electron Diffraction of Small Molecules

Published on: March 15, 2021

Beam-sensitive metal-organic framework structure determination by microcrystal electron diffraction.

Fateme Banihashemi¹, Guanhong Bu², Amar Thaker²

¹Chemical Engineering, School for Engineering of Matter, Transport and Energy, Arizona State University, 501 E. Tyler Mall, PO Box 876106, Tempe, AZ 85287, United States.

Ultramicroscopy

|June 23, 2020

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Microcrystal electron diffraction (MicroED) successfully determined the high-resolution structure of beam-sensitive metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) like ZIF-8 from nanocrystals. This method offers a powerful alternative to traditional X-ray diffraction for MOF structural analysis.

Keywords:

CryoEM Crystallography Electron diffraction Metal-organic framework MicroED Microcrystal electron diffraction

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Last Updated: Dec 17, 2025

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Synthesis and Characterization of Functionalized Metal-organic Frameworks

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Published on: September 5, 2014

Area of Science:

Materials Science
Crystallography
Chemistry

Background:

High-resolution X-ray diffraction typically requires large single crystals.
Many metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are sensitive to electron beams, complicating analysis.
Electron microscopy and diffraction offer an alternative for MOF structure determination.

Purpose of the Study:

To evaluate microcrystal electron diffraction (MicroED) for analyzing beam-sensitive MOFs.
To determine the structure of ZIF-8 using MicroED from nanocrystalline material.

Main Methods:

Microcrystal electron diffraction (MicroED) was employed.
High-resolution electron diffraction data were collected from ZIF-8 nanocrystals.
The structure of ZIF-8 was refined from the collected diffraction data.

Main Results:

The structure of ZIF-8 was determined to 0.87 Å resolution from a single nanocrystal.
The refined structure showed good agreement with published X-ray crystallography data.
MicroED proved effective for analyzing beam-sensitive MOF structures.

Conclusions:

MicroED is a viable tool for structural analysis of beam-sensitive MOFs.
This technique enables structure determination from nano and microcrystalline samples.
MicroED provides a valuable alternative when large single crystals are unavailable.