Patent ID: 7469036

Claim:
A method for determining the structure of a macromolecule-ligand complex, comprising: (a) producing a sample of a selected polycrystalline macromolecule-ligand complex, said sample produced by the steps comprising (i) providing a quantity of substantially dehydrated macromolecules and a quantity of ligand molecules, and (ii) adding a liquid to a mixture of said dehydrated macromolecules and said ligand molecules while physically agitating the mixture of said macromolecules and said ligand molecules, wherein said polycrystallites of said macromolecule-ligand complex are formed; (b) producing a sample of a selected polycrystalline macromolecule, said sample produced by the steps comprising (i) providing a quantity of substantially dehydrated macromolecules, and (ii) adding a liquid to said dehydrated macromolecules while physically agitating said macromolecules, wherein said polycrystallites of said macromolecule are formed; (c) providing a molecular model of the selected macromolecule; (d) collecting powder diffraction data from said sample of said macromolecule and said sample of macromolecule-ligand complex; and (e) analyzing said diffraction data and said molecular model to yield the structure of said macromolecule-ligand complex.