Condensed-matter physics articles within Nature Chemistry

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  • News & Views |

    Gluing materials together underwater is a mighty challenge faced — and overcome — by mussels. It requires good adhesion and cohesion. Molecular-level mechanical measurements have now shown that cation–π interactions provide surprisingly strong cohesive abilities.

    • Henrik Birkedal

  • In Your Element |

    Iulia Georgescu explains why rubidium is atomic physicists' favourite chemical element.

    • Iulia Georgescu

  • News & Views |

    Molecules can transfer charge between electron donors and acceptors, and can also transport charge when connected between metallic electrodes. These processes are assumed to show generally similar trends, however, a significant departure from this has now been observed in a series of biphenyl bridges.

    • Gemma C. Solomon

  • Editorial |

    The field of molecular electronics has developed significantly as experimental techniques to study charge transport through single molecules have become more reliable. Three Articles in this issue highlight how chemists can now better understand and control electronic properties at the molecular level.

  • News & Views |

    Tying molecules together in a link results in tremendous stabilization of the radical species they can form. Six clearly distinguishable charged states — which can be interconverted reversibly — have now been observed in a densely cationic system.

    • David B. Amabilino

  • In Your Element |

    Beginning with its origins as the archetypal and eponymously elusive rare-earth element, Dante Gatteschi explains why dysprosium and other lanthanides have cornered the market in molecular magnetism.

    • Dante Gatteschi

  • News & Views |

    Single-molecule magnets are coordination clusters with magnetic properties that are typically reliant on the coupling between pairs of metal centres. Now, a cluster in which magnetism arises from delocalized electrons — built using an imidazolate bridge, a common linker in metal–organic architectures — shows promise for molecular memory devices.

    • Annie K. Powell

  • Article |

    Single-molecule magnets are clusters of metal ions linked together by organic bridges, with properties typically arising from exchange coupling of unpaired metal electrons. In mixed-valence systems, another magnetic mechanism involving itinerant electrons can also occur and induce a high-spin ground state. Now, such electron delocalization has been observed through an imidazolate bridge — a common linker in metal-organic architectures — which may enable the construction of higher spin clusters or three-dimensional magnets.

    • Bettina Bechlars
    • , Deanna M. D'Alessandro
    •  & Jeffrey R. Long

  • News & Views |

    Electrically tunable materials are used to construct switches and memory devices. Applying an electric field within a specific temperature range to cyanometallate complexes triggers their charge-transfer phase transition, altering their optical and magnetic properties.

    • Osamu Sato

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