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  • RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT

No assembly required: giant 12-faced molecule builds itself

Ten components come together to form a complex structure called a triakis tetrahedron.
Composite image of individual triakis tetrahedron molecules

A microscope captured the image of a wire (gold) made of triakis tetrahedral molecules, superimposed with images of models of the molecule. Credit: Haixin Zhang and Kun Wang

Scientists have synthesized a giant molecular structure that resembles a 12-faced solid called a triakis tetrahedron1. This structure could be used to confine smaller molecules or speed up chemical reactions.

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Nature 614, 597 (2023)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-023-00407-4

References

  1. Jiang, Z. et al. Cell Rep. Phys. Sci. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xcrp.2023.101293 (2023).

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