Structure determination from conventional powder diffraction data: application to hydrates, hydrochloride salts, and metastable polymorphs.

Recent advances in crystallographic computing have made it possible to solve by powder diffraction methods structures that have not been possible to solve by single-crystal methods. Although there is vast improvement in the quality of data obtained from high-intensity synchrotron radiation, we found that surprisingly reliable results can be obtained from conventional laboratory sources. In this article we examine the application of Monte Carlo/simulated annealing methods for the determination of structures ranging in complexity from 9 to 15 degrees of freedom. We re-determine the structures of papaverine hydrochloride and erythromycin A dihydrate by the powder diffraction method and compare the structures to those determined by single-crystal diffraction methods. The structure of a metastable polymorphic form of acetohexamide, form B, is solved and examined spectroscopically. Its structure has not previously been solved by single-crystal techniques because of the small size of its crystals.