Inorganic chemistry – Page 5
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FeatureWhen a bond gets too extreme
Chemical bonds are part of the way chemists rationalise the behaviour of atoms in the conditions of the world around them. Tim Wogan looks at how they are affected when those conditions change
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ResearchScientists may have detected exotic nitrogen-9 isotope
Nuclei would be the first to decay by the emission of five protons
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NewsBerkeley Lab to lead US hunt for element 120 after breakdown of collaboration with Russia
Fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sees US go it alone on efforts to synthesise new elements
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FeatureFifty years since the ferrocene furore
Only two of the discoverers of the sandwich compounds that revolutionised organometallic chemistry received the Nobel prize, leaving one very big name feeling left out. Mike Sutton traces the controversy
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ResearchOxygen-28 is the heaviest oxygen isotope ever seen
Nuclei expected to be ‘doubly magic’ but experimental observations cast doubt on this
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OpinionShape is not enough to distinguish life from abiotic systems
No morphological differences between living and non-living systems are yet known
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ResearchMetal–organic framework encourages iron centre in ferrocene to oxidise
On binding oxygen, ferrocene bends and stretches, and alters its electronic structure
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ResearchCyclic sandwich compounds synthesised for the first time
‘Cyclocenes’ are a new class of organometallic compound
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ResearchModel solves mystery of unique chemical garden growth
Beautiful inorganic crystal formations modelled in step that could inform understanding of self-healing materials or even the origins of life
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ResearchFirst x-ray structure of radium compound gives glimpse of element’s coordination chemistry
Oak Ridge National Laboratory team determines the single crystal structure of a radium complex
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ResearchHalf-century quest to create stable beryllium–beryllium bond ends in success
Organoberyllium sandwich compound should provide answers to questions first posed a century ago
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ResearchHand-built caesium-based ‘artificial atoms’ used to create ‘synthetic’ benzene
Manufactured atoms offer chemists chance to play ‘mind games’ with matter and change bond order of molecules
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ResearchFirst synthesis of unusual arsenic reagent reveals that it breaks periodic trend
Electron deficient arsenic intermediate challenges preconceptions of heavy main group elements
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ResearchIdentifying single atoms with x-ray specificity
Combining synchrotron x-rays with scanning tunnelling microscopy gives atomic resolution
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ResearchMetallic hydrogen and diamonds may have been made from plastics
A combination of x-ray diffraction experiments and simulations suggests that an intense laser can transform polystyrene
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ResearchIncrease in aromaticity drives metallaaromatic ring contraction
Acid-promoted ring contraction reaction reshapes an osmaindenol into an osmapentalene
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FeatureThe long future of nuclear waste
Although enthusiasm for atomic energy has waxed and waned over the decades, Bárbara Pinho finds the question of waste has yet to be solved
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ResearchRecord room-temperature superconductor could boost quantum computer chips
New material reduces pressures needed more than a hundredfold, but experts urge caution over structural questions and previously retracted research
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OpinionN-heterocyclic carbenes are more than passive spectators
The practical importance of N-heterocyclic carbenes continues to grow
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ResearchResidues from embalming vessels cast new light on ancient Egyptian mummification
Chemists reveal the compounds and sources of embalming treatments