Discovery of unusual iodine–silver bond opens up new possibilities for coordination chemistry

By Mason Wakley2025-09-02T13:30:00

A 3d model of a complex with silver bonded to iodine. The complex also contains carbon, nitrogen, fluorine, sulfur, oxygen and hydrogen.

Source: © Rakesh Puttreddy et al, Nature Communications 2025

Crystallographic studies reveal that the bond is similar in length to typical metal–metal bonds

A collaborative effort between scientists has led to the isolation of a complex with two iodine(i)-silver(i) coordination bonds, opening up possibilities for other complexes with unconventional bonding.