# Single Crystal X-ray Diffractometer with Microfocus Rotating Anode Source (Cu)

> **NIH NIH S10** · JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY · 2022 · $470,602

## Abstract

Project Summary / Abstract
 This proposal requests support for the acquisition of a new X-ray diffractometer to be housed in
the Chemistry Department at Johns Hopkins University (JHU). The requested instrument is a Rigaku
XtaLAB Synergy-R system equipped with a high-flux rotating anode X-ray source and a Hybrid Photon
Counting detector. This instrument will dramatically advance the capabilities in fundamental research of
19 Major and Minor Users identified in the proposal, involving investigators from chemistry, biophysics,
materials science, and chemical and biomolecular engineering. There have been significant
advancements in X-ray diffractometer technology since the prior acquisition (2012) of the current
diffractometer housed in Chemistry at JHU, and these advances allow for a major leap forward in the
characterization of challenging crystalline materials. Such materials are: (i) compounds that do not
crystallize well and/or grow with only very small crystal dimensions (e.g. 10-40 µm), (ii) high value
chemical target molecules (e.g., intermediate species, novel metal-organic frameworks, supramolecular
assemblies) that have limiting diffraction power due to poor long-range order, and/or contain large
amounts of solvent inclusion, and (iii) proteins with relatively long unit cell dimensions (> 150 Å). These
materials would be extremely difficult, or impossible, to characterize with the current instrumentation at
JHU. The proposed instrument will transform the NIH-funded research of Major Users Goldberg, Karlin,
and Garcia-Bosch by providing molecular structures of compounds that are meta-stable and can only be
isolated in crystals of very small dimensions and/or are weakly diffracting; and of Major User Huang by
characterizing metalloproteins for catalytic functions. The delineation of structural, host-guest interactions
in framework materials (e.g. metal-organic and covalent organic frameworks (MOFs, COFs)) is critical to
the research of Major User Thoi, but the fragility, porosity, and small size of single crystals of these
frameworks often makes structural characterization impossible. The proposed Rigaku XtaLAB Synergy-
R diffractometer should overcome these barriers and enable the examination of host-guest relationships,
single-crystal-to-single-crystal transformations, and snapshots of chemical mechanism in MOF/COF
materials. The power of the proposed diffractometer will also allow Major User García-Moreno to examine
structure-energy relationships in proteins, especially with regards to pH sensitivity. Such studies are
important in cancer biology, as one of the hallmarks of cancerous solid tumors is dysregulation of pH,
and the fundamental structural knowledge to be gained can be harnessed to increase the specificity of
protein therapeutics. Overall, the acquisition of the proposed instrument will greatly enhance the research
of Major and Minor users by providing the ability to obtain detailed structural information on small
molecules and ...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10431079
- **Project number:** 1S10OD030352-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Maxime A Siegler
- **Activity code:** S10 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $470,602
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2022-06-01 → 2023-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10431079

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10431079, Single Crystal X-ray Diffractometer with Microfocus Rotating Anode Source (Cu) (1S10OD030352-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10431079. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*