Acquisition of a single-crystal X-ray diffractometer for the structural analysis of small molecules and proteins

Abstract

We propose the creation of the appropriate infrastructure, at the USP São Carlos Institute of Chemistry, for the use of single-crystal X-ray crystallography, applied to small molecules as well as to proteins. To that end, we are requesting the acquisition of a single-crystal X-ray diffractometer with high-intensity copper and molybdenum X-ray tubes. There are currently no such diffractometers anywhere in Brazil. The equipment requested will be allocated in the Chemical Analysis Center of the USP São Carlos Institute of Chemistry and will be made available to the researchers in the region and in the State of São Paulo as a whole. This diffractometer is capable of providing structural data at the atomic level with great precision, allowing its use in the structural analysis of solid crystalline compounds of greater complexity, from organic molecules and coordination compounds with small molecules to macromolecules of various sizes, as well as biomolecules or proteins. Therefore, the equipment provides structural data that can be used as references, such as the distances/angles of bonds, molecular geometry, and spatial conformation, as well as intra-, inter-, and supra-molecular interactions, with precision. The acquisition of such data will promote significant advances in all fields of research that involve structural studies, including organic/inorganic synthetic chemistry, medicinal/pharmacological chemistry, organic/inorganic biochemistry, and protein chemistry/ biochemistry, as well as catalysis and biocatalysis. (AU)