Structures of elusive noble-gas compounds elucidated by 3D electron diffraction

The main focus of this proposal is obtaining solid-state structural information for selected noblegas compounds. These include a landmark compound XePtF6, which is the first discovered noble-gas compound, or the only xenon oxide with extended structure, XeO2, which could help explain the Earth’s missing xenon puzzle. All targeted chemical species have so far eluded structural characterization due to their poor crystallinity. However, recent advances in 3D electron diffraction methods (3D ED) now make their structure determination possible. The structure determination is, however, still extremely challenging due to the high sensitivity and reactivity of the studied compounds. Within this project we intend to develop and optimize special 3D ED procedures and methodology for handling of these samples, determine their crystal structures and thus improve our understanding of the chemistry of these compounds. We include also selected silver(II) compounds in the project to demonstrate that the method will allow structural elucidations of a broader range of sensitive and elusive compounds.