X-Ray diffraction (XRD) on single crystal is the reference technique in structural crystallography. The knowledge of the molecular and crystalline structure is crucial for all aspects of knowledge in stereochemistry (chirality, stereoisomery...), and in the structure-activity relationships in general, and this essential information is often impossible to obtain with other methods.
Chemical reactivity, catalysis, coordination chemistry and supramolecular chemistry, the physico-chemistry of solids, the elaboration of new materials (superconduction, magnetism...), the valorisation of natural resources (phosphates, bauxite...) or natural substances for pharmacy or agro-food industry, bio-crystallography, drug-assisted design are some of the areas where X-ray Diffraction on sinble crystal is the analytical method of reference.
This technique is based on the recording of diffracted intensities by a single crystal subjected to X-ray radiation and the information obtained allows to determine the three-dimensional structure of the molecules at the atomic resolution.
