The dynamic charge density of KZnB3O6, which contains edge-sharing BO4 units, has been characterized using laboratory and synchrotron X-ray diffraction techniques. The experimental electron density distribution (EDD) was constructed using the maximum-entropy method (MEM) from single crystal diffraction data obtained at 81 and 298 K. Additionally, MEM-based pattern fitting (MPF) method was employed to refine the synchrotron powder diffraction data obtained at 100 K. Both the room-temperature single crystal diffraction data and the cryogenic synchrotron powder diffraction data reveal an intriguing phenomenon: the edge-shared B2O2 ring exhibits a significant charge density accumulation between the O atoms. Further analysis of high-quality single crystal diffraction data collected at 81 K, with both high resolution and large signal-to-noise ratio, reveals no direct O–O bonding within the B2O2 ring. The experimental EDD of KZnB3O6 obtained aligns with the results obtained from ab-initio calculations. Our work underscores the importance of obtaining high-quality experimental data to accurately determine EDDs.

Magnesium hydroxyfluoride, Mg(OH)F, has been synthesized by a subcritical hydrothermal route from a 1:1 molar mixture of brucite, Mg(OH)2, and sellaite, MgF2 with a rutile type structure, in excess water. Using a combination of synchrotron X-ray and time-of-flight neutron powder diffraction, the structure of Mg(OH)F has been solved in the diaspore space group Pnma with a = 10.116(3), b = 4.6888(10) and c = 3.0794(7) Å at ambient conditions. The most intense diffraction lines are [dobs (hkl) Iobs]: 2.291 (211) 10, 4.253 (101) 7, 1.747 (212) 7, 2.229 (401) 6 and 1.480 (610) (4) Å, with the largest d-spacing at 5.058 Å. Sharp infrared stretching bands are located at 3679 and 3645 cm–1, with a broader band at 3535 cm–1. The topology of the structure is intermediate between that of the OH and F endmembers, being derived through notional shearing nearly normal to the sheets of octahedra of the CdI2/Mg(OH)2-type structure. Further similar shearing at an interval 1/2a would lead to a Cd(OH)F-type structure, which is also related to the rutile structure type. The observations and model presented here indicate a close correlation between the structural properties of the endmembers and Mg(OH)F.

A Mg-stabilized triclinic tricalcium silicate form of type Ca3−xMgxSiO5, T3, was synthesized. Rietveld analysis using synchrotron X-ray powder diffraction data suggested that unlike the T1 form, the T3 structure was unmodulated. This refinement illustrated that the only existing model for a triclinic form of tricalcium silicate (T1) can be used to describe the nonmodulated T3 form.

Electron diffraction has been recently used in the pharmaceutical industry to study the polymorphism in crystalline drug substances. While conventional X-ray diffraction patterns could not be used to determine the cell parameters of two forms of the microcrystalline GP IIb/IIIa receptor antagonist roxifiban, a combination of electron single-crystal and synchrotron powder diffraction techniques were able to clearly distinguish the two polymorphs. The unit-cell parameters of the two polymorphs were ultimately determined using new software routines designed to take advantage of each technique's unique capabilities. The combined use of transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and synchrotron patterns appears to be a good general approach for characterizing complex (low-symmetry, large-unit-cell, micron-sized) polymorphic pharmaceutical compounds.