Vacuubrand with a kf flange to reduce leaks- I love the peace of mind of knowing what the vacuum is like on my line 😅

I was just teaching packing of spheres in solid materials to first year undergraduates last week! As you’ve drawn, we discussed how ABA layered structures vs ABC layered structures both give the same packing efficiency (~74%)

DME obviously wanted its moment in the spotlight 😂

Celebrating with the good stuff!

The dataset showed some twinning, but also radiation damage that grew in over time, so a longer collection wasn’t an option. It’s the first Bk organometallic crystal structure with atomic coordinates refined, so I’m quite proud of it

The crystallography was fun for this one - the one good-enough crystal had to be glued to the mount and shielded with a thin polymer sheath so it couldn’t fall off the mount during collection.

A particular shout out to my fellow synthesis team members Dom Russo, who decided that this ligand was going to be the one that would work- he was so right, to Alyssa Gaiser for her steady handling of the Bk and expertise in heavy actinide handling and Nick Katzer, fellow PLA group member

Yeah- it’s a classic way to get lucky for SCXRD quality xtals. I think it the room is temperature controlled, but probably also has fewer vibrations than the lab? Plus the inside of the tubes seem relatively scratch /nucleation site free

This was a sample of a reaction that I was analysing for purity by magnetic resonance- each proton nucleus in a molecule resonates at a different frequency, and that tells us something about its environment. The sample has crystallised out of the solution- crystals tend to be very pure!