Small Molecule Microcrystal Electron Diffraction for the Pharmaceutical Industry-Lessons Learned From Examining Over Fifty Samples

The emerging field of microcrystal electron diffraction (MicroED) is of great interest toindustrial researchers working in the drug discovery and drug development space. Thepromise of being able to routinely solve high-resolution crystal structures without theneed to grow large crystals is very appealing. Despite MicroED's exciting potential,adoption across the pharmaceutical industry has been slow, primarily owing to a lack ofaccess to specialized equipment and expertise. Here we present our experience buildinga small molecule MicroED service pipeline for members of the pharmaceutical industry.In the past year, we have examined more than fifty small molecule samples submittedby our clients, the majority of which have yielded data suitable for structure solution.We also detail our experience determining small molecule MicroED structures ofpharmaceutical interest and offer some insights into the typical experimental outcomes.This experience has led us to conclude that small molecule MicroED adoption willcontinue to grow within the pharmaceutical industry where it is able to rapidly providestructures inaccessible by other methods.