Recently, chemists from Newcastle University and Durham University cooperated with SPT Labtech (Tengquan Life Science), and successfully developed a new technology to grow organic soluble molecule crystals from nano-scale droplets. This new molecular crystallization method can obtain high-quality single crystals in a few days, and only need a few milligrams of analytes. Their innovative method involves using inert oil to control the loss of evaporation solvent, which has the potential to enhance the drug development process. The research was published in the journal Chem Chemistry.
This new method of crystallization with high efficiency is called Encapsulated Nanodroplet Crystallization (ENaCt). Researchers say that hundreds of crystallization experiments can be established in a few minutes by using this method. Each experiment involves a few micrograms of molecular analytes dissolved in a few nanoliters of organic solvent, and it is automated, and hundreds of unique experiments can be easily and quickly established. The concentration of these nanodroplet experiments leads to the growth of high-quality single crystals suitable for modern X-ray diffraction analysis.
Michael J. Hall, a senior lecturer in chemistry at Newcastle University, said, "The nano-scale crystallization technology for organic soluble small molecules developed by us uses a high-throughput liquid handling robot to conduct multiple crystallization experiments at the same time, but few samples are needed and the success rate is very high. This new method may have a far-reaching impact in the field of molecular science and other fields. Basic research will benefit from highly detailed characterization of new molecules (such as natural products or complex synthetic molecules) through X-ray crystallography, and this new method is constantly developing. By quickly obtaining the characteristic crystalline forms of new active pharmaceutical ingredients, It will accelerate the production of new drugs in the pharmaceutical industry. "
Paul Thaw from SPT Labtech said: "Working with Newcastle team enables this work to develop a novel high-throughput single crystal X-ray diffraction method, which can quickly screen microgram levels of organic soluble small molecules, which will provide valuable insights for academic research and drug design and verification."
Researchers believe that ENaCt may rewrite molecular science, and this new crystallographic method can change the scientific pattern of analyzing small molecules, including drug discovery, drug delivery and crystal solid state.
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