Room-temperature structure determination of vacuum-sensitive organic compounds by formvar encapsulation and serial electron diffraction.

ABSTRACT: Samples used in electron microscopy are traditionally required to be stable under vacuum. However, many organic compounds with high vapor pressures readily sublime at room temperature, a process that is further accelerated under the high-vacuum conditions of an electron microscope. Here, we demonstrate for the first time the structure determination of vacuum-sensitive organic compounds in their solid state at room temperature using electron crystallography. Serial electron diffraction was employed to obtain sub-Å-resolution structures of anthracene and pyrene, two representative organic molecules which sublimate under the high-vacuum conditions of a transmission electron microscope. This was made possible by a simple sample preparation technique in which ultrathin crystals are encapsulated

SUBMITTER: Pulleri Vadhyar S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12810524 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature