A low temperature Weissenberg camera

Details of the design and operation of a Weissenberg camera suitable for x-ray investigations between -180°c and 200°c are presented. The camera employs a novel arrangement of spur and bevel gears to couple the goniometer spindle to the worm rod which controls the range of oscillation. The entire drive system and the goniometer assembly are mounted on a support which permits the insertion or removal of a cylindrical cassette from the gear-box side without disturbing the cooling assembly and the layer-line screen. The cassette can also be inserted from the opposite side. The specimen can be cooled either directly by a stream of liquid air or by the cold gas from its evaporation. Condensation of moisture at low temperatures is prevented by heating the layer-line tubes internally

Structures of isopropylidene nucleoside derivatives - implications for ribose ring flexibility under external cyclic constraints

Crystal structures of six isopropylidene nucleoside derivatives are described. The results show that, under external cyclic constraints, the ribose assumes a variety of unusual conformations. In those compounds which possess a base-to-sugar cyclization through the C(4′) atom, the furanose pucker is predominantly C(4′)-endo, O(4′)-exo. The possible relevance of the sulphur geometry in two of the compounds to certain structural aspects of the action of the enzyme thymidylate synthetase is also pointed out

Conformational flexibility of the D-ring in steroid molecules: a statistical analysis from crystal data

The basic steroid skeleton consists of three fused cyclohexane rings and a cyclopentane like D-ring. The D-ring mostly carries a functional group and is known to induce or stabilise an essential conformational state in the receptor. Detailed understanding of its conformation is of interest in these connections. The authors have now carried out a systematic conformational analysis on the D-ring pucker using the crystal structure data of about 300 steroids. The analysis shows that there are preferred puckered states involving the C(13) and C(14) atoms. In 91% of the structures, the D-ring conformation is found highly restricted to a narrow range of pseudorotation cycle where the phase angle P is between 18° (C(13) β envelope) and -18° (C(14) α envelope). Exceptions are however found when the ring is heavily substituted. The hybridisation state at C(17) atom is found to have systematic effect on conformation of the D-ring

Structural Crystallography and Crystal Chemistry

CaH406P-.K +, M r = 206.10, is orthorhombic, space group Pbca (from systematic absences), a = 14.538(4), b = 13.364(5), c = 6.880 (6)A, U = 1383.9 A 3, D x = 2.07 Mg m -a, Z = 8, ~.(Mo Ka) = 0.7107/~, p(MO Ka) = 1.015 mm -1. The final R value is 0.042 for a total of 1397 reflections. The high energy P-O(13) and the enolic C(1)-O(13) bonds are 1.612 and 1.374 A respectively. The enolpyruvate moiety is essentially planar. The orientation of the phosphate with respect to the pyruvate group in PEP.K is distinctly different from that in the PEP-cyclohexylammonium salt, the torsion angle C (2)-C (1)-O(13)- P being -209.1 in the former and -90 ° in the latter. The K + ion binds simultaneously to both the phosphate and carboxyl ends of the same PEP molecule. The ester O(13) is also a binding site for the cation. The K + ion is coplanar with the pyruvate moiety and binds to 0(22) and O(13) almost along their lone-pair directions. The carbonyl 0(22) prefers to bind to the K + ion rather than take part in the formation of hydrogen bonds usually observed in carboxylic acid structures

Structure of L-Arginyl-L-aspartie Acid Dihydrate

C~0H~gN5Os.2H20, Mr=325.32, monoclinic,P2~, a = 12.029 (2), b=4.904 (2), c=13.215 (2) A, fl= 107.68 (2) ° , F= 743 (1) A 3, Z= 2,D m = 1-45, D x = 1.45 Mg m -3, Cu Ka, 2 = 1.54184 A,fl= 1.01mm -1, F(000)=348, T=293K. The final R value for 1277 observed reflections 110 >_ 3tr(Io)l is 0.031. The dipeptide exists as a zwitterion. The arginyl side-chain conformation is similar to that found in arginyl-glutamic acid [Pandit, Seshadri & Viswamitra (1983). Acta Cryst. C39, 1669-16721. The guanidyl group forms a pair of hydrogen bonds with oxygen atoms of the backbone carboxyl group. The crystal structure is also stabilized by -bonding interactions involving both water molecules

An A-DNA structure with two independent duplexes in the asymmetric unit

The crystal and molecular structure of the self-complementary A-DNA decamer sequence $d(G_4CGC_4)$ was solved at 1.9 \AA resolution. The decamer crystallizes in space group $P2_1$ with two independent duplexes in the asymmetric unit. Duplex 1 has interactions which are distributed symmetrically about its length compared with duplex 2. The two end base pairs of duplex 1 have a similar NH O hydrogen-bond pattern involving GGC segments of duplex 2 and a symmetry-related neighbour, while the end base pairs of duplex 2 interact with the GCC and GGG segments of its symmetry-related neighbours through NH...O and NH...N hydrogen bonds and a water-mediated hydrogen bond between the carboxyl groups of C40 and C8. In addition to the C4'-C5' torsion angle \gamma assuming the trans conformation in certain steps, this angle also adopts the $gauche^-$ conformation at C37 as opposed to the preferred $gauche^+$ conformation, with a concomitant change in phosphodiester P-O5' $(\alpha)$ in the opposite sense. This facilitates stacking between adjacent bases. The study suggests that the structural alterations in the two molecules in the asymmetric unit originate from an inherent propensity of the $d(G_4CGC_4)$ base sequence for varied intermolecular interactions and malleability

The Structure of the Monosodium Salt of Cytidine(5')diphosphoethanolamine

CI1H19N4OIIP2.Na+.TH2 O, Mr = 594.08, is orthorhombic, space group P21212 l, with a = 6.946 (2), b = 12.503 (4), c = 28.264 (8)/k, U = 2454.6 A, a, D x = 1.61 Mg m -a, Z = 4, ~t(CuKa) = 2.612 mm -1, F(000) = 1244. Final R = 0.101 for 1454 observed reflections. The cytosine base is in the anti conformation with respect to the sugar (ZCN = 62"60) . The ribose exhibits an uncommon C(l')exo-C(2')endo puckering. The pyrophosphate has a characteristic staggered geometry. The conformation about P(2)-O(7') is trans (-103.4°). This makes CDPethanolamine more extended compared to the folded geometry of CDP-choline, which has a gauche conformation (71.3 o). The molecular interactions in the extended crystal structure, however, are similar to those found in CDP-choline, with the CMP-5' portions tightly bound by metal ligation and the phosphorylethanolamine parts only loosely held by water molecules