Molecular form factors in X-ray crystallography

The calculation of molecular form factors from ab initio molecular electronic wavefunctions is discussed, and a scheme for application to X-ray diffraction structure analysis is given. The method is used to calculate the form factor of the NH+4 molecular ion from three accurate molecular wavefunctions, as well as for the corresponding isolated-atoms arrangement. The merits of the different form factors obtained are tested on experimental single-crystal X-ray diffraction data for NH4F. It appears that the quality of the form factor is determined by the number of centres in the wavefunction basis rather than by the wavefunction energy.