Abstract
IN recent years the techniques of X-ray diffraction structure analysis have been refined to such an extent that, with careful work, the positions of hydrogen atoms in a structure may be determined when each hydrogen atom is bound to a single atom. The detection of a hydrogen ion in a hydrogen bond, however, is a much more difficult task, since only a fraction of an electron can be considered as localized near the proton. This amount of ionization reduces the atomic scattering factor for X-rays. However, the atomic scattering factor for electrons is correspondingly increased since this is given by ɛ = (Z − ƒ)λ2/sin2θ, where Z is the atomic number, ƒ is the X-ray scattering factor, λ is the effective wave-length of the electron beam and θ is the Bragg angle. Hence, hydrogen ions in hydrogen bonds should be detected more readily in structure analyses based on electron diffraction data. Techniques for structure analysis using single-crystal electron diffraction patterns have been evolved and will be described elsewhere. They have been applied to the study of the structure of boric acid layers.
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References
Zachariasen, W. H., Z. Krist., A, 88, 150 (1934).
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COWLEY, J. Electron Diffraction Study of the Hydrogen Bonds in Boric Acid. Nature 171, 440–441 (1953). https://doi.org/10.1038/171440a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/171440a0
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