First half-Möbius molecule made

By Katrina Krämer2026-03-09T15:59:00

A 3D molecular structure of 13 carbons and two chlorine side groups. It shows how the space filling forces are twisting around each other and the ring.

Source: © IBM Research and the University of Manchester

Twisted structure is an unprecedented case of a compound that becomes aromatic by breaking its own symmetry

Chemists have created the first-ever half-Möbius molecule. The orbitals of the 13-carbon ring twist by only a quarter turn with each circumnavigation rather than the half-twist of regular Möbius aromatics. It’s also the first example of a molecule that becomes more aromatic as it becomes less symmetric.