Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre (CCDC)

30/09/2026

The 2026.2 CSD Software update is out now!

This release includes:

➡️New Growth Explorer functionality to construct and manually modify a crystal morphology using interaction networks, as well as functionality to identify and visualise steps and their features on a crystal surface.
➡️Full Interaction Maps with four additional probes: sp2 CNC nitrogen, carboxylate oxygen, nitro oxygen and chloride anion. These more specific probes help users visualise the interactions most relevant to their molecule, supporting more targeted assessment of interactions and polymorphism potential.
➡️A significantly increased co-former library.
➡️Bug fixes across our apps to improve the user experience.

The release also enables dark mode in many of our applications.

🔗https://ccdc-info.com/4hjblJx

30/09/2026

Are you making the most of the world’s structural chemistry data? 💎

For over 60 years, we have been the backbone of materials and life sciences research.

Through the Cambridge Structural Database (CSD), we provide:

⚛️Curated Data: Access to a trusted global repository of organic and metal-organic structures.
🔬Advanced Software: Tools designed to turn raw data into scientific breakthroughs.
🔎Educational Support: From PhD sponsorships to outreach programs for the next generation.

As a non-profit, we believe science should be accessible. Our FAIRE Access Programme is specifically designed to empower researchers from diverse backgrounds, ensuring everyone has the tools they need to succeed.

More at https://ccdc-info.com/3LY25h8

How has the CSD impacted your research? Let us know in the comments!
👇

29/09/2026

Join our free virtual workshop and discover how Mercury's advanced tools can help you improve computational modelling results and better understand the intermolecular interactions that drive crystal growth and stability.

During the session, we will demonstrate recently released functionality for structural optimisation and interaction network visualisation. You'll also have the chance to get hands-on with the software.

📆Tuesday, 3rd November
⌛13:30–15:15 GMT
🎥Live on MS Teams

Save your place: https://ccdc-info.com/469z4FA

28/09/2026

The Cambridge Structural Database (CSD) has been updated!

Highlights include a flexible zirconium M*F for atmospheric water harvesting (CSD Entry OCUCEZ) and actinide coordination complexes that provide new insights into metal-ligand bonding (CSD Entry UDAHAN).

Read more about these and other new structures at https://ccdc-info.com/4xsbXB9

25/09/2026

An unusual mode of reactivity for high-valent copper is reported by Zhang et al in Inorganic Chemistry. (🔎 https://ccdc-info.com/3Tn74vf).

Instead of behaving primarily as oxidants for C−H functionalization, these formal Cu(iii) halide complexes act as Lewis-acidic systems that activate C(sp³)−OH bonds, converting alcohols into the corresponding alkyl fluorides, chlorides, and bromides.

👀CSD Entry JAVGAT features an elongated Cu-F bond, attributed to the trans influence of an anionic carbon donor in the supporting ligand.

🔗 https://ccdc-info.com/4rp75eZ

25/09/2026

🙌 Congratulations Frank Fronczek, on your 50-year career at LSU, and a huge thank you for your invaluable contributions to the CSD. The structural science community and we will be forever grateful for the wealth of data you have already shared and it was especially impressive to see you become the first crystallographer to reach 1,000 CSD Communications in 2015.

We will also fondly remember your talk at the lunchtime CSD celebration at an American Crystallographic Association meeting in 2016, and doing a far better job than we ever could of demonstrating the value of publishing CSD Communications and encouraging others in the community to share their structures.

Over the past five decades, staff from the CCDC have enjoyed meeting you and having many thoughtful discussions, and we can confidently say that you are not only a true champion of crystallography but also genuinely one of the nicest people you could meet 😀

If you are interested, your current results are here:https://5700241.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/5700241/Frank%20Fronczek%20-%20CSD%20Statistics%20Report.pdf and we would obviously be very happy to help and support you in getting those 1,000 more unpublished structures in your collection into the CSD to help boost your score 😉

Frank, we wish you well as you move into retirement, and we thank you once again for your outstanding contributions to the scientific community. 👏

He first came to LSU as an undergraduate in 1966. When Dr. Frank Fronczek returned in 1976, he expected to stay one year. That year became a 50-year career helping shape generations of chemistry research.

From revealing thousands of crystal structures to guiding students through their first discoveries, Dr. Fronczek has left a lasting mark on LSU and the worldwide crystallography community.

As he enters retirement, one thing is clear: he’s still bleeding Purple & Gold. 💜💛

🔗 Read his story: https://www.lsu.edu/science/chemistry/news/2026/09/fronczek.php

LSU Department of Chemistry LSU Research Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre (CCDC) American Crystallographic Association

24/09/2026

Are you looking to learn more about protein-ligand docking simulations for drug discovery?

Join our free virtual workshop to discover practical tips, insights, and strategies to integrate automated, reproducible GOLD docking workflows into your research pipelines, from molecule preparation and binding-site definition to docking, rescoring, and protein-ligand complex generation.

📆Tuesday, 20th October
⌛15:30–17:15 BST
🎥Live on MS Teams

Spaces are limited; save your place today!
🔗https://ccdc-info.com/3UC0CRp

23/09/2026

Don't let your "hidden" data go to waste. 💎

Not every crystal structure ends up in a formal paper—but every structure has value.

CSD Communications gives you a direct route to share small molecule structures in the Cambridge Structural Database (CSD) without the need for a full scientific publication.

Why share?

🔭Visibility: Make your work discoverable and citable by researchers worldwide.
💪Efficiency: Save others from duplicating your efforts.
➡️Impact: Ensure your data contributes to future breakthroughs and meta-analyses.

Ready to contribute to the world’s structural knowledge? Deposit your structure at https://ccdc-info.com/4kj17J3

22/09/2026

⏳ Don't miss your chance to apply for a CCDC Engagement Grant.

The CCDC Engagement Grants support projects that increase engagement with crystallography and structural science through creative resources and activities.

📆Applications close on 11 October: https://ccdc-info.com/4y5bfLu

If you have an idea that could inspire students or engage public audiences, we'd love to hear from you.

21/09/2026

Meet CSD Entry MUJNUE that has been added to the Cambridge Structural Database (CSD).

The structure of iizuchalasin A demonstrates how crystallography can reveal complex molecular architectures and support the identification of promising new antibiotic scaffolds for drug discovery.

Read more about the latest CSD update at https://ccdc-info.com/4hxcrkL.