Breaking the limit of chemical compounds
Since the end of the 19th century, transition metal carbonyls have been an important and familiar class of compound in coordination chemistry and organometallic chemistry. In these materials, carbon monoxide molecules (CO) are bound to transition metals as the central atom. In this subject area, the team of Prof. Dr. Ingo Krossing and Wiebke Unkrig of the Institute of Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry at the University of Freiburg has succeeded in synthesizing brand-new transition metal carbonyl complexes—Ta2(CO)12 and M(CO)7+, where the metal atoms M are Niobium (Nb) and Tantalum (Ta). In many aspects, these substances go beyond current compound limits. As a result, they transcend new chemical frontiers that are relevant for practical use as well as basic science. The researchers have published their results in the scientific journal Nature Chemistry.