Main group chemistry – Page 3
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PodcastHexasilabenzene
Brian Clegg discovers what a six-membered silicon ring can tell us about alien life
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ResearchStrange hexagonal form of table salt discovered
Predicted by an evolutionary algorithm, the first hexagonal sodium chloride was made on a diamond surface
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ResearchNew high pressure allotrope of nitrogen solves a chemical mystery
‘Black nitrogen’ shares similarities with other elements in its group on the periodic table – answering the question of why nitrogen normally doesn’t
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ResearchNew silicon–silicon bond is a rare example of a π bond without a σ bond
Discovery made in silicon analogue of bicyclobutane
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ResearchCarbon tetrahedron squeezes phosphorus into smallest possible bond angle
Phosphorus manages to stabilise an ultra-strained tetrahedrane’s banana bonds
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ResearchMetallic hydrogen reveals itself under mounting pressure
Robust data help close in on prized room temperature superconductor
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NewsBird droppings to help cut the crap in graphene doping papers
Dramatic illustration shows there’s little value in doping graphene electrodes to make better water splitting catalysts
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ResearchMystery around ‘stealthy’ surfactants deepens as study raises more questions
Simple explanation for why inorganic boron clusters behave like organic surfactants doesn’t convince everyone
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ResearchSemiconductive properties see subvalent silver oxide contravene textbook rules
Extreme synthetic conditions create material with a seemingly implausible electron count
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ResearchRare subvalent compound sits on the fence between semiconductors and intermetallics
Liquid indium solvent and sulfur-poor conditions allow scientists to create a new subchalcogenide
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ResearchDouble aromaticity found in boron analogue of metallabenzene
Boron–rhenium cluster is both σ- and π-aromatic
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![An image showing a single-crystal X-ray derived model of [MH6] complex](https://d2cbg94ubxgsnp.cloudfront.net/Pictures/100x67/4/0/6/501406_full_text__crimmin_161621_859886.jpg)
ResearchTransition metal complex with geometry predicted over 100 years ago raises eyebrows
A hexagonal planar complex containing rare palladium–magnesium bonds has been reported for the first time
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ResearchFirst isolable thorium nitride complex made
Researchers use new complex to probe covalency of actinide–ligand double bonds
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ResearchChiral borane complexes catalyse new synthesis opportunities
N-heterocyclic carbene-borane complexes with a rare stereogenic boron centre demonstrate potential in stereoselective catalysis
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ResearchStrange bonds entirely new to chemists predicted in ammonia hydrides
High pressure compound containing bridging hydrogen cations might be found inside Neptune and Uranus
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ResearchNew rule predicts stabilising aromaticity in open-shell metal clusters
Magic numbers for jellium aromaticity could help researchers find stable high-spin molecules
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ResearchBizarre ice XVIII is an oxygen ion crystal swimming in a sea of protons
High pressure superionic form of water may hold clues to behaviour of giant icy planets in our solar system
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NewsDoes the periodic table make more sense upside down?
UK researchers argue an inverted table works better for students
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FeatureThere’s something about boron
Boron’s chemistry is as much defined by what it isn’t – carbon, or a metal – as by what it is. Recent years have started to fix this misconception, as James Mitchell Crow reports
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ResearchHopes raised of a ‘super-table’ to end periodic table disputes
Mathematical analysis could help answer where hydrogen or lanthanum should sit on the table