Chemical Science View Article Online MINIREVIEW View Journal | View Issue Quantum crystallography† Simon Grabowsky,*a Alessandro Genoni*bc and Hans-Beat Burgi*de Cite this: Chem. Sci.,2017,8,4159 ¨ Approximate wavefunctions can be improved by constraining them to reproduce observations derived from diffraction and scattering experiments. Conversely, charge density models, incorporating electron-density distributions, atomic positions and atomic motion, can be improved by supplementing diffraction Received 16th December 2016 experiments with quantum chemically calculated, tailor-made electron densities (form factors). In both Accepted 3rd March 2017 cases quantum chemistry and diffraction/scattering experiments are combined into a single, integrated DOI: 10.1039/c6sc05504d tool. The development of quantum crystallographic research is reviewed. Some results obtained by rsc.li/chemical-science quantum crystallography illustrate the potential and limitations of this field. 1. Introduction today's organic, inorganic and physical chemistry. These tools are usually employed separately. Diffraction and scattering Quantum chemistry methods and crystal structure determina- experiments provide structures at the atomic scale, while the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. tion are highly developed research tools, indispensable in techniques of quantum chemistry provide wavefunctions and aUniversitat¨ Bremen, Fachbereich 2 – Biologie/Chemie, Institut fur¨ Anorganische eUniversitat¨ Zurich,¨ Institut fur¨ Chemie, Winterthurerstrasse 190, CH-8057 Zurich,¨ Chemie und Kristallographie, Leobener Str. NW2, 28359 Bremen, Germany. Switzerland E-mail:
[email protected] † Dedicated to Prof. Louis J. Massa on the occasion of his 75th birthday and to bCNRS, Laboratoire SRSMC, UMR 7565, Vandoeuvre-l`es-Nancy, F-54506, France Prof. Dylan Jayatilaka on the occasion of his 50th birthday in recognition of their cUniversit´e de Lorraine, Laboratoire SRSMC, UMR 7565, Vandoeuvre-l`es-Nancy, F- pioneering contributions to the eld of X-ray quantum crystallography.