The Xenon Chamber is a pressure chamber designed to produce xenon derivatives of biological macromolecular crystals.Crystals mounted in loops  are placed into the Xenon Chamber. Once sealed, the chamber is pressurized with xenon gas so that the crystal and macromolecules are equilibrated in a vapor saturated xenon atmosphere. Following depressurization of the chamber, the loop-mounted crystal is simply lifted and slid along the Xenon Chamber track and quickly lowered into a dewar for

June 1, 2008

Xenon is a noble gas, which binds to specific sites in a biological macromolecule and can therefore be used to form heavy atom derivatives for structure determination. The Xenon Chamber is a simple yet effective device designed to pressurize loop-mounted biological macromolecular crystals in the presence of xenon gas at room temperature. Crystals mounted in loops such as the CrystalCap system are placed into the Xenon Chamber. Once sealed, the chamber is pressurized with xenon gas so that the crystal and macromolecules are equilibrated in a vapor saturated xenon atmosphere. Following depressurization of the chamber, the loop-mounted crystal is simply lifted and slid along the Xenon Chamber track and quickly lowered into a dewar for freezing in liquid nitrogen or propane.

Users wishing to operate this equipment should contact the beamline staff for operating instructions and training.