Cambridge Crystallographic Database Available for Students in the Scholars Lab
Today, we’re highlighting a tool for scholarship in Chemistry, one that has allowed Chemistry faculty and students at ACU to produce exciting research. That tool is the Cambridge Crystallographic Database (CCD), “the world's repository for small-molecule crystal structures.”
In addition to being available on a Chemistry lab computer with specialized equipment, CCD is also available on a computer in the Scholars Lab on the 3rd floor of the ACU library, meaning all students can access it any time the library is open.
Cynthia Powell shared with us some information about CCD and its application in the ACU Chemistry and Biochemistry department:
The CCD contains data collected in Xray Crystallography experiments on single crystals for almost one million different compounds. A researcher can search for specific structures or classes of structures, pull up representations of those structures that are "3-dimensional" and can be rotated for ease of viewing different aspects of a particular molecule. Tools within the database allow viewers to measure angles, bond distances, and even produce sample spectra.
How are researchers at ACU using this tool? One copy of the database license is on a computer attached to our Xray diffractometer in the Chemistry and Biochemistry Department. Each time we load a crystal of a potentially new compound synthesized in our laboratories, initial data collected can be quickly compared to all of the data in the CCD. This allows the student or faculty researcher to determine whether the crystal they have mounted is potentially a new unreported structure. The ability to immediately identify any known compounds allows us to make wise decisions about next steps in research progression. If a crystal is a potential new product we pursue full data collection. Making the distinction between known and unknown means that we can use our precious data collection time with accompanying costs wisely.
Beyond research lab applications, the CCD is a valuable educational tool. We are currently it in four different undergraduate courses to train our students in the valuable technique of Xray crystallography and to introduce them to the importance of molecular shape.