Some Developments in Anomalous Dispersion for the Structural Investigation of Macromolecular Systems in Biology

Abstract

A discussion is given of the anomalous dispersion technique in structure analysis. This is accompanied by a general algebraic analysis with no approximations for any number and type of anomalous scatterer. The resulting relations are largely linear with appropriate selection of unknown quantities. The quantities of interest are expressed only in terms of functions of the nonanomalous parts of the atomic scattering factors and are separate for each type of anomalous scatterer. This theory, the advent of increased ease in performing multiple-wavelength experiments, and some recent progrès made in applying a one-wavelength experiment to the solution of a protein structure suggest considerable potential for the future application of the anomalous dispersion technique to structural investigations of complex macromolecular systems in biology.