Unstable Space Molecule Made in Laboratory |
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Written by spacetravel.org
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Sunday, 23 April 2006 13:37 |
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A version of an unstable molecule that has only ever aexisted in interstellar space has been made in the lab. It could be used as a catalyst, as it has a long, slender tip that could poke into previously inaccessible regions of a reactant, and high-energy electrons that could destabilise strong bonds.
Cyclopropenylidene (C3H2) is a triangular molecule with a carbon atom at each corner. Two are bonded to hydrogen and have "full" outer shells of electrons, but one has an unfilled shell and reacts with any molecule it encounters. This is not a problem in the low-density vacuum of space, but on Earth it makes the molecule highly unstable.
Guy Bertrand at the University of California, Irvine, and colleagues stabilised the unfilled carbon atom by replacing the hydrogen on the other two with clusters of electron-rich atoms. These have an "umbrella" effect over the third carbon atom
"In space there are a lot of molecules that are really crazy," says Bertrand. "It will be interesting to synthesise them"
Source : New Scientist
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