Searching for molecular radical's secrets of stability
Tuesday, October 30, 2012 - 08:31
in Physics & Chemistry
For the first time, scientists synthesized and characterized a metal-containing complex long thought to be too unstable to study. This complex piqued the interest of scientists at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory because the metals inside this metalloradical are held together by a bond between two tungsten or molybdenum atoms. The lack of strings of atoms, called ligands, around the metals is unusual, and the instability of the molecules has made them impossible to observe. Until now.