Visualising coordination chemistry: fluorescence X-ray absorption near edge structure tomography

Chem Commun (Camb). 2016 Sep 27;52(79):11834-11837. doi: 10.1039/c6cc06747f.

Abstract

Coordination chemistry underlies the structure/function of biological metal complexes. Contextualising this chemical information within an organism's physiology is critical for enhancing the understanding of bioinorganic chemistry but few high-fidelity probes are available. Here we develop fluorescence X-ray absorption near-edge structure tomography as a means for studying the spatial arrangement of biological coordination chemistry within intact organisms, and demonstrate the approach by mapping the distribution of cuprous and cupric complexes within Drosophila melanogaster.