Lanthanide–carbon triple bond synthesised and characterised

Figure

Source: © Hongjie Jiang et al/Springer Nature Limited 2025

Cluster stabilised within a C80 fullerene cage

A lanthanide-carbon triple bond has been created for the first time, specifically a cerium-carbon triple bond, encapsulated inside a C₈₀ fullerene cage. This is a significant development in lanthanide chemistry, as isolating lanthanide-ligand multiple bonds has been a persistent challenge in f-block chemistry.