Prospects for exploiting 4D ultrafast electron microscopy in solid-state organic and biological chemistry

One of the most exciting recent experimental breakthroughs has been the development, by Zewail et al., of four-dimensional ultrafast electron microscopy (4D-UEM), which has the capability to combine direct spatial imaging of materials at angstrom resolution together with time resolution down to femtoseconds. We identify and discuss some of the wide-ranging future prospects for applying the 4D-UEM technique in organic solid-state chemistry, with reference to a variety of organic solids, including urea inclusion compounds, and in the study of biological materials such as ribosomes, proteins, and enzymes.