collections

Acta Crystallographica Section C publishes focused collections devoted to all areas of structural chemistry.

The journal has published exciting special issues on topics as diverse as

The journal also publishes curated collections from its archive, or virtual issues. The third virtual issue featured coordination polymers, with an introduction by Len Barbour.

If you would like to see a special issue on a particular topic enabled by the determination, calculation or analysis of small-molecule crystal and molecular structures in the chemical sciences, please send your suggestion to the Managing Editor (Sean Conway; [email protected]).

Forthcoming special issues

Acta Crystallographica Section C is planning special issues on the topics listed below with the aim of expanding the scope and authorship of the journal. Authors wishing to submit articles for these issues should first read the Notes for authors and the online submission instructions. Further information on the special issue can be obtained by contacting either the Guest Editor(s) or the Managing Editor (Sean Conway; [email protected]).

Chemical insights from aspherical refinements (to be published late 2026)

Guest editors: Thomas Fellowes (University of Liverpool, UK; [email protected]), Peter Spackman (Curtin University, Australia; [email protected]), Lorraine Malaspina (Universitat Bern, Switzerland; [email protected]) and Paul Ruth (Durham University, UK, [email protected]).

This special issue highlights the unique structural and chemical insights enabled by refinements using non-spherical atoms, rather than focusing primarily on methodological developments. We hope that the issue will showcase the expanding impact of aspherical refinement approaches across structural chemistry and help inspire further applications in the wider crystallographic community.

Best practice in crystallography (an occasional series for 2024)

Guest editor: Alan Kennedy (University of Strathclyde, Scotland; e-mail: [email protected]).

The journal is launching an occasional series of invited lead articles on a general `how to do or why to do' theme. The collection will look at current best practices and topical perspectives over a range of subjects aimed at readers with an interest in structural chemistry. The series will begin in early 2024 and some early subjects will be crystal structures for organic electronics, best practice when collecting powder diffraction data, growing high-quality crystals and photocrystallography.

If you have an idea for an article that would be interesting and useful to readers of the journal and the crystallographic community, contact Alan Kennedy (Section Editor; [email protected]) or Sean Conway (Managing Editor; [email protected]).

Previously published special issues

Acta Crystallographica Section C has published four special issues on the topics listed below with the aim of expanding the scope and authorship of the journal. It is hoped that the special issues will demonstrate to the scientific community the style of papers that the journal is now inviting. Acta Crystallographica Section C: Structural Chemistry is the journal of choice for publishing any interesting research enabled by the determination, calculation or analysis of small-molecule crystal and molecular structures in the chemical sciences.

Scorpionates (September 2013)

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Guest editor: Glenn Yap (University of Delaware, USA; e-mail: [email protected])

This issue includes contributions from some of the best authors in the field of this chemically important family of prolific and work-horse ligands wherein the structure has a palpable effect on reactivity.

Pharmaceuticals, drug discovery and natural products (November 2013)

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Guest editor: Chris Frampton (Pharmorphix Solid State Services, Cambridge, UK; e-mail: chris.frampton@sialcom)

This issue addresses and discusses the timeless questions of polymorphism, stereochemistry and H-atom position, and the structural data presented originates not just from X-ray analyses, but also from NMR and computational studies, thus demonstrating the widened scope of the journal.

Interplay of crystallography, spectroscopy and theoretical methods for solving chemical problems (December 2013)

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Guest editors: Larry Falvello (Universidad de Zaragoza, Spain; e-mail: [email protected]) and Alberto Albinati (Universita degli Studi di Milano, Italy; e-mail: [email protected])

This issue presents research articles and scientific comments demonstrating that the vast utility of structure determination is manifest in other techniques in addition to single-crystal diffraction analysis, and that a description of structure can derive immense leverage from physical measurements and computational modelling.

Computational materials discovery (February 2014)

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Guest editor: Artem Oganov (State University of New York at Stony Brook, USA; e-mail: [email protected])

This issue highlights the two most important breakthroughs of this field, i.e. crystal structure prediction and electronic structure calculations, and their applications to specific problems of materials science.

Scorpionates: a golden anniversary (November 2016)

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Guest editors: Glenn Yap (University of Delaware, USA; e-mail: [email protected]) and Kiyoshi Fujisawa (Ibaraki University, Bunkyo, Mito, Japan; e-mail: [email protected])

The year 2016 marks the 50th anniversary of the discovery of scorpionates by Swiatoslaw `Jerry' Trofimenko. The papers in this special issue clearly show that scorpionate chemistry remains relevant, exciting, and productive.

NMR crystallography (March 2017)

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Guest editors: David Bryce (University of Ottawa, Canada; e-mail: [email protected]) and Francis Taulelle (Universite de Versailles Saint Quentin en Yvelines, France; [email protected])

The term `crystallography', in its broadest sense, refers to obtaining structural information on crystals and related solids. Diffraction-based methods continue to play an enormous role in this area of research. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy has, however, from its earliest days, also provided structural information on both crystalline and amorphous samples. The contributions to this special issue serve as an excellent introduction to the power and scope of NMR crystallographic methods and applications.

Polyoxometalates (POMs) (November 2018)

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Guest editors: José Ramón Galán-Mascarós (Institute of Chemical Research of Catalonia (ICIQ), Spain; e-mail: [email protected]) and Ulrich Kortz (Jacobs University, Germany; e-mail: [email protected])

The development of polyoxometalate (POM) chemistry during the last half-century or so has benefitted tremendously from single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Besides structural aspects, the study of the physicochemical properties of POMs has developed tremendously in recent decades. The multitude of attractive properties includes controllable size, composition, charge density, redox potential, acid strength, high thermal stability in the solid state, solubility in polar/nonpolar solvents and reversible electron/proton storage. Such versatility renders POMs of interest for academic and industrial applications, especially in catalysis. The contributions to this special issue on POMs provide an excellent overview of the current state of the subject, as well as providing updates to current reseach.

Halogen, chalcogen, pnictogen and tetrel bonds: structural chemistry and beyond (May 2023)

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Guest editors: Lee Brammer (University of Sheffield, UK; e-mail: [email protected]), Tom Roseveare (University of Sheffield, UK; e-mail: [email protected]) and Anssi Peuronen (University of Sheffield, UK, and University of Turku, Finland; e-mail: [email protected])

This virtual special issue brings together 12 articles that cover a variety of aspects associated with halogen, chalcogen, pnictogen and tetrel bonds. There are articles that focus on structure, bonding and bond strength, articles that investigate co-operation or competition between different classes of interactions, articles that explore the relationship between these interactions and chemical or physical properties of the compounds and materials involved, and, although all articles involve characterization by single-crystal X-ray diffraction, a number have a prominent focus on other experimental techniques or are combined with interpretation from theoretical calculations. Halogen bonding and chalcogen bonding dominate these articles, consistent with the wider literature.

Crystallography in Latin America: a vibrant community (April 2025)

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Guest editors: Maria Rosales-Hoz (Cinvestav, Mexico; e-mail: [email protected]) and Renata Diniz (Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Brazil; e-mail: [email protected]).

The growth of the number of articles published by Latin American researchers has been important in recent years. Part of this growth is represented by Crystallography papers. This special issue of Acta Crystallographica Section C will help to give visibility to the work carried out by the crystallographic community in our countries and will coincide with the Sixth Latin American Crystallographic Association (LACA) Meeting.

Advances in Electron Diffraction for Structural Characterization (June 2025)

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Guest editors: Glenn Yap (University of Delaware, USA; e-mail: [email protected]), Eric Reinheimer (Rigaku Americas, USA; e-mail: [email protected], Joe Ferrara (Rigaku Americas, USA; e-mail: [email protected]), Laura Samperisi (Eldico Scientific AG, Switzerland; e-mail: [email protected]) and Gunther Steinfeld (Eldico Scientific AG, Switzerland; e-mail: [email protected]).

The use of electron diffraction (ED) as an alternative to traditional X-ray diffraction has gained traction in the last several years especially in the advent of electron beam diffractometers being developed. This special issue will highlight recent advances in the technique and attempt to lay groundwork in establishing crystallographically sound standards and best practices for data collection and structural interpretation.