Foreword to the special issue Crystallography in Latin America: a vibrant community.

This collection highlights the diversity and quality of research conducted by Latin American scientists, and emphasizes the interdisciplinary nature of crystallography, highlighting its connections with other research fields and presenting innovative and thought-provoking studies.

Biosynthesis of micro- and nanocrystals of Pb (II), Hg (II) and Cd (II) sulfides in four Candida species: a comparative study of in vivo and in vitro approaches.

Nature produces biominerals (biogenic minerals) that are synthesized as complex structures, in terms of their physicochemical properties. These biominerals are composed of minerals and biological macromolecules. They are produced by living organisms and are usually formed through a combination of chemical, biochemical and biophysical processes.

Coupling of acetylene molecules on ruthenium clusters, involving cleavage of C-Si bonds in the alkyne and coordination of a phenyl ring of a SiPh3 group.

The reaction of [Ru3(CO)12] with the disubstituted acetylene Me3SiC≡CSiMe3 yields several compounds where cleavage of the C-Si bond has occurred thus allowing an easy coupling of carbon fragments to produce allene complexes [Ru4(CO)12(μ4-η(3)-Me3SiCCCSiMe3)] (2), differently substituted metallacycle compounds [Ru3(μ2-CO)2(CO)6{μ3-C(R)C(SiMe3)C(R')C(SiMe3)}] (3) [R = SiMe3, R' = CH3 (3a); R = H, R' = CH3 (3b); R = C≡CSiMe3; R' = H (3c)] and a pentanuclear ruthenium cluster containing three separate alkyne units; two with one SiMe3 substituent and one with two SiMe3 substituents, coordinated to the metal framework [Ru5(CO)12{μ3-(C2SiMe3)2}μ2-C2(SiMe3)2] (4). Another product of the reaction is the acetylide derivative [(μ-H)Ru3(CO)9(CCSiMe3)] (1a). In order to determine if this was an intermediate for the formation of the products already mentioned, the reaction of this compound was carried out with the two terminal alkynes HCCSiMe3 and HCCSiPh3.

Crystal structure, solid state and solution characterisation of copper(II) coordination compounds of ethyl 5-methyl-4-imidazolecarboxylate (emizco).

The synthesis and characterisation of the following compounds derived from the biological relevant compound ethyl 5-methyl-4-imidazolecarboxylate (emizco) (1): [Cu(emizco)Cl2] (2), [Cu(emizco)2Cl2] (3), [Cu(emizco)2Br2] (4), [Cu(emizco)2(H2O)2](NO3)2 (5) and [Cu(emizco)4](NO3)2 (6), is presented. These compounds were characterised by IR and UV spectroscopic techniques, in addition the crystal structures of compounds 1-5 were determined. For complexes 2-5, emizco is coordinated as a bidentate ligand, through the oxygen atom of the carboxylate moiety and the nitrogen atom of the imidazolic ring.