D1, KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING: Know the basic elements of the crystalline symmetry and X-ray diffraction phenomenon. Understand the main structural determination methods based on single crystal and powder diffraction techniques.
D2, APPLYING KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING: Acquire the ability to collect and analyze diffraction spectra from single crystals. Analyze the diffraction data to obtain information on the molecular and crystalline structure.
D3, MAKING JUDGMENTS: Acquire concepts and tools necessary to understand the diffraction phenomena and describe the structural characteristics of crystalline solids.
D4, COMMUNICATION SKILLS: Exploit the software used during lessons and practical sessions, to highlight the main characteristics of the crystal structure.
D5, LEARNING SKILLS: Read a scientific article and understand the main steps of structure determination from single crystal X-ray diffraction.

Basic concepts of general chemistry, physics, and mathematics.

Importance of diffraction techniques. Cohesive forces in solids. Structure-property relationship.
Crystal morphology. Miller indices.
Crystalline structure. Crystal lattice. Symmetry in crystals. Crystal families, crystal systems, Bravais lattices, space groups. The International Tables for Crystallography. Fractional coordinates.
Close-packed crystalline structures. Molecular graphics.
X-rays. X-ray sources. Monochromators and mirrors. Detectors. Diffractometers.
Diffraction theory. Scattering and interference of electromagnetic waves.
Reflection condition. Bragg's law. Real lattice and reciprocal lattice. Ewald sphere. Symmetry in diffraction. Friedel's law.
Data Collection Methods. Diffraction data reduction.
The phase problem. The Patterson function and the heavy-atom method. Direct Methods. Anomalous dispersion.
Structural refinement. Quality of refinement.
The course includes some practical sessions.

Galli, Moret, Roversi Cristallografia, la visione a raggi X Zaccaria Editore (2014)

Importance of diffraction techniques. Crystals: definition. Amorphous and crystalline solid state. Long- and short-range order. Cohesion forces in solids: covalent, ionic, metallic, and molecular crystals. Structure-properties relationships. Crystal morphology. Miller indexes. Crystal forms. Isomorphism and polymorphism. Hauy's law of whole numbers.
Crystal structure. Unit cell and unit cell parameters. Crystal lattice, lattice nodes, and crystallographic planes. Families of planes. Crystal symmetry. Symmetry element and symmetry operation. Points, axes, and planes. Direct and inverse congruence. Operations compatible with chiral molecules: translation, rotation, and roto-translation. Operations not compatible with chiral molecules: inversion, roto-inversion, roto-inversion with translation. Axes compatible with the crystal lattice: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 6th order axes. Roto-translation axes compatible with the crystal lattice. Constraints on unit cell parameters due to symmetry elements. 6 crystal families and 7 crystal systems. Symmetry and lattice centering. 14 Bravais lattices. 32 crystal classes (crystallographic point groups). 11 Laue symmetry classes. 230 space groups. The International Tables for Crystallography. General equivalent positions. Fractional coordinates.
Crystal structures and close-packing. The ionic NaCl solid and gold and zinc metals. Density evaluation from crystallographic data. Molecular graphics, visualization of the structure, and symmetry analysis. Examples of crystal structures and symmetries: quartz and sucrose. The allotropic forms of carbon (diamond and graphite), tin (alpha and beta forms), and sulfur (S8 orthorhombic and monoclinic).
Electromagnetic waves. Hard and soft X-ray. X-ray sources: closed tubes, rotating anode, synchrotron. Synchrotron radiation. Advantages of synchrotron radiation: intensity (brilliance), divergence, polychromatic light, tunable wavelength. Synchrotron scheme. Emission spectrum. Insertion devices: wigglers. Front-end of a beamline. Monochromators and mirrors. IP, CCD, and CMOS-based detectors. Diffractometer.
Diffraction theory. Waves in the Argand diagram. Scattering of X-rays. Interference of electromagnetic waves. Summation of waves in the Argand diagram. Constructive and destructive interference. Reflection condition. Bragg's law. Real and reciprocal lattices. Ewald sphere. Systematic absences. Diffraction symmetry. Friedel's law.
Crystal mounting. Data collection methods: Laue method and rotating crystal method. Optimization of the experimental variables. Diffraction data analysis.
The phase problem, the importance of phases in the electron density maps. The main methods to solve the phase problem. Patterson function and heavy atom method. Direct methods.
Anomalous scattering. From Friedel pairs to Bijvoet mates. Resolution limit and quality of electron density maps. Model building and interpretation of electron density maps. Structural refinement. Quality of the refinement. Disagreement index: R-factor.
During the experimental sessions, crystal mounting, data collection, and determination of simple crystal structures of an organic compound and a coordination complex.

Traditional frontal lessons with slide presentations. Hypertext pages with models of crystal structures. Practical sessions will include resolution of the structure of a simple organic structure and a coordination complex.
The lecturers provide all the material used during the course on the university's Moodle platform.

The lecturers provide all the material used during the course on the university's Moodle platform.

The exam takes place with an oral test on at least three questions concerning topics covered in the course. The evaluation will be expressed with a numeric value, out of thirty. During the test, the student will have to demonstrate that he/she acquired the basic concepts of diffraction, as well as the ability to link the various topics illustrated during the course. The student must demonstrate his/her ability to present the acquired knowledge with clarity. The result of the exam will be evaluated with a score of thirty points based on the following criteria: -Excellent (30-30 cum laude): excellent knowledge of the topics, excellent language skills, excellent analytical skills; the student is able to brilliantly apply theoretical knowledge to concrete cases. -Very good (27-29): good knowledge of the topics, remarkable language skills, good analytical skills; the student is able to correctly apply theoretical knowledge to concrete cases. -Good (24-26): good knowledge of the main topics, good language skills; the student shows adequate ability to apply theoretical knowledge to concrete cases. - Satisfactory (21-23): The student does not fully master the main topics of teaching, but has the basic knowledge; however, he/she demonstrates satisfactory language skills and an adequate ability to apply theoretical knowledge to concrete cases. -Sufficient (18-20): minimal knowledge of the main topics of teaching and technical language, limited ability to adequately apply theoretical knowledge to concrete cases. - Insufficient (less than 18): The student does not have acceptable knowledge of the content of the various topics of the teaching course. Any changes to the methods described here that may be necessary to ensure the application of safety protocols in the context of possible emergency situations will be announced on the Department website, the Course of Study and on the Moodle page for teaching.

Lectures will not discuss subjects related to the Objectives of the 2030 agenda for sustainable development.