DIAMOND HIGHLIGHTS TOUR

Useful for all Kinds of Crystal Structures

Although Diamond has special features for inorganic structures, it is useful for all kinds of crystal structures, from intermetallics to small organic molecules, from zeolites to proteins. There are almost no limits regarding the number of atoms in the parameter list, the number of created atoms, bonds, polyhedra, etc. (The real limitation on your computer will rather be RAM and CPU speed.)

Structural data (cell parameters, space group, atomic parameters with displacement parameters, some geometric parameters, bibliographic data) may be entered or edited manually but can also be read from:

• CRYSTIN download format created by ICSD or CRYSTMET
• Cambridge Structural Database FDAT format.
• Brookhaven Protein Data Bank format.
• SHELX-93 format.
• Crystallographic Information File (CIF).
• XYZ format (free format with cartesian coordinates).

Diamond recognizes the file format automatically. Besides this, it offers a search function, where you can search for chemical, crystal, and bibliographic data within files on your computer.

The screenshot below shows four structure windows in Diamond with...

...(upper left:) Forsterite (Mg₂SiO₄) from Inorganic Crystal Structure Database (ICSD), Collection Code 15627;
(lower left:) 16-alpha,17-butanomorphinan-3-ol (C₂₀H₂₇NO) from Cambridge Structural Database (CSD), Reference Code ABBUMO10;
(upper right:) "Hemoglobin Thionville alpha chain mutant with Val1 replaced by Glu and an acetylated Met bound to the amino terminus" from Protein Data Bank (PDB), Reference Code 1BAB;
(lower right:) Silver gold zinc (1:1:2), AgAuZn₂, JAPIA 37 (1966), pp. 2062 - 2066.