Uranium complex smashes record for consecutive bonds between atoms

By Mason Wakley2026-08-18T08:30:00

A complex molecule centred around a uranium atom bonded to two cobalt atoms in a quadruple or quintuple bond as well as four organic groups via nitrogens.

Source: © Xingxing Gong et al, National Science Review 2026

Linear complex is the first all-metal compound to have more than two triple bonds in a row

A uranium-based complex with 10 bonds across three atoms now holds the record as the first all-metal compound with the highest number of bonds between consecutive atoms.¹ ‘Our work likely represents the limit of cumulative bonding in trinuclear systems,’ says Congqing Zhu at Nanjing University, who led the work, adding that it is ‘hard to imagine any atom forming more than 10 bonds with two neighbouring atoms’.