Utilization of the crystalline sponge {[(ZnI2)3(tpt)2·x(solvent)]n} method has enabled characterization of a novel family of synthetic organic oils. The systematic structural differences and diversity of functional groups offered by 13 related molecular adsorbates provide a detailed quantitative understanding of the relationship between the guest structure, its conformation, and the type of intermolecular interactions adopted with neighbouring guests and the host framework. This analysis is extended to assess the connection of these factors to the resulting quality indicators for a particular molecular structure elucidation.

Single-crystal X-ray and neutron diffraction data are usually collected using separate samples. This is a disadvantage when the sample is studied at high pressure because it is very difficult to achieve exactly the same pressure in two separate experiments, especially if the neutron data are collected using Laue methods where precise absolute values of the unit-cell dimensions cannot be measured to check how close the pressures are. In this study, diffraction data have been collected under the same conditions on the same sample of copper(II) sulfate pentahydrate, using a conventional laboratory diffractometer and source for the X-ray measurements and the Koala single-crystal Laue diffractometer at the ANSTO facility for the neutron measurements. The sample, of dimensions 0.40 × 0.22 × 0.20 mm3 and held at a pressure of 0.71 GPa, was contained in a miniature Merrill-Bassett diamond-anvil cell. The highly penetrating diffracted neutron beams passing through the metal body of the miniature cell as well as through the diamonds yielded data suitable for structure refinement, and compensated for the low completeness of the X-ray measurements, which was only 24% on account of the triclinic symmetry of the sample and the shading of reciprocal space by the cell. The two data-sets were combined in a single \'XN\' structure refinement in which all atoms, including H atoms, were refined with anisotropic displacement parameters. The precision of the structural parameters was improved by a factor of up to 50% in the XN refinement compared with refinements using the X-ray or neutron data separately.

A high-temperature single-crystal X-ray diffraction study of a synthetic PbTiO3 perovskite was carried out over the wide temperature range 298-928 K. A transition from a tetragonal (P4mm) to a cubic (Pm \\bar 3 m) phase has been revealed near 753 K. In the non-centrosymmetric P4mm symmetry group, the difference in relative displacement between Pb and O along the c-axis is much larger than that between Ti and O. The Pb and Ti cations contribute sufficiently to polarization being shifted in the opposite direction compared with the shift of O atoms. Deviation from the linear changes in Debye-Waller factors and bonding distances in the tetragonal phases can be interpreted as a precursor phenomenon before the phase transition. Disturbance of the temperature factor Ueq for O is observed in the vicinity of the transition point, while Ueq values for Pb and Ti are continuously changing with increasing temperature. The O site includes the clear configurational disorder in the cubic phase. The polar local positional distortions remain in the cubic phase and are regarded as the cause of the paraelectricity. Estimated values of the Debye temperature ΘD for Pb and Ti are 154 and 467 K in the tetragonal phase and decrease 22% in the high-temperature phase. Effective potentials for Pb and Ti change significantly and become soft after the phase transition.

On the way towards the development of a synthetic route aimed at obtaining new methylsilanediol derivatives with an aminocarbonyl group in β to silicon (which may have a potential biological interest), we have synthesized, isolated and purified five diphenylic possible precursors, namely chloromethyl(methyl)diphenylsilane, 2-{[methyl(diphenyl)silyl]methyl}-1H-isoindole-1,3(2H)-dione, N-[(methyl(diphenyl) silanyl)-methyl]-benzamide, N-[(methyl(diphenyl)silyl)-methyl]-acetamide and N-[(methyl(diphenyl)silyl)-methyl]-formamide. The conformational landscape of the five species in this study are explored by means of DFT calculations at the B3LYP/6-311++G(∗∗) level. The theoretical molecular structures predicted are confirmed by the reproduction of their respective IR and Raman spectral profiles, that are completely assigned. Some evidence in the vibrational spectra points to the occurrence of conformational mixtures in the samples. Further, single-crystal X-ray diffraction has allowed the elucidation of the crystalline structure of 2-{[methyl(diphenyl)silyl]methyl}-1H-isoindole-1,3(2H)-dione.