#crystallography--notably
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admirablewomen.bsky.social
Marilyn Olmstead (d. #OTD in 2020) was an internationally renowned American chemist & leader in small-molecule X-ray #crystallography--notably of fullerenes, or "buckyballs." #WomenInSTEM

Buckyballs are soccer-ball-shaped carbon cages that spin rapidly in crystals. Their spinning was an issue...🧵
A close-up, black-and-white photograph of Marilyn Morgan Olmstead (December 8, 1943 – September 30, 2020), the foundational American chemist who revolutionized small-molecule X-ray crystallography. Positioned in a centered, head-and-shoulders frame, she faces the camera directly with a warm, open smile. Her eyes crinkle with genuine warmth, and her face is framed by short, voluminous, tightly curled graying hair. She wears a dark blazer over a light-colored collared shirt, and a lanyard featuring the corporate logo of the American Chemical Society (ACS) hangs around her neck, anchoring her professional status. The background is a solid, clean black tone, drawing all focus onto her face. The mood is joyful, inviting, and distinguished, reflecting her immense historical significance as an academic pioneer who mapped the microscopic boundaries of modern nanotechnology. A precise, high-contrast black-and-white scientific schematic illustrates a buckminsterfullerene molecule (C60), also known colloquially as a buckyball. The geometric structure is rendered as a clean ball-and-stick model, forming a hollow, spherical cage consisting of 60 carbon atoms arranged in a series of interlocking regular hexagons and pentagons that mirror the layout of a modern soccer ball. The structural bonds in the foreground are thick, bold, and black, while the bonds towards the back of the sphere are rendered in lighter shades of gray to create a distinct three-dimensional depth of field. The entire molecule is isolated against a stark, pure white background. The clean, calculated composition evokes a precise and analytical mood, emphasizing the historic structural stability of fullerenes that Marilyn Olmstead successfully anchored and mapped for the advancement of materials science.
September 30, 2026 at 10:07 PM
shaoliangzheng.bsky.social
😱"Notably, despite crystallizing in achiral point groups (-1 and 2/m), the crystals exhibit optical activity"? 😳 That’s not consistent with basic crystallographic #symmetry. 🤔 doi.org/10.1002/adma...
#IUCr #crystallography #education
January 11, 2026 at 5:54 PM
shaoliangzheng.bsky.social
Congratulations to Jeewhan from Betley Group at HarvardCCB: An #OpenShell FeIV Nitrido #Incrysallo #photocrystallography doi.org/10.1021/jacs... 🥳🥳 #crystallography #education
An Open-Shell FeIV Nitrido
We report the photogeneration and characterization of an open-shell, terminal iron nitrido (EmL)Fe(N) using a sterically encumbered dipyrrin ligand environment. The Fe–N distance in the solid-state, zero-field 57Fe Mössbauer spectrum, and computational analysis are consistent with a triplet electronic ground state of the iron nitrido. Notably, the attenuation of Fe–N multiple bond character through occupying π*Fe–N enables (i) primary C(sp3)–H amination, (ii) H2 cleavage, (iii) aromatic C–C cleavage, and (iv) photocatalytic N-atom transfer reactivity. These modes of reactivity have not previously been observed in low-spin Fe(N) analogues.
doi.org
January 20, 2025 at 4:44 PM