Small-molecule crystal structures, data sources

While the methods for acquiring of X-ray diffraction data have not changed since the first diffraction studies by von Laue, improvements in their components have made them more efficient and user friendly, so that crystal structures of much larger and more complicated molecules can now be determined. For example, during the years since 1912, X-ray sources have evolved from sealed tubes that produce only a nominal flux of radiation to synchrotron sources that produce radiation that is several orders of magnitude more intense. The first structural studies were done on crystals of simple salts containing only a few atoms in each unit cell and therefore relatively small numbers of Bragg reflections were available... 

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