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Graphene fragments

When 1 + 1 is odd

Nature Nanotechnology volume 12, pages 292–293 (2017)Cite this article

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Triangulene, an elusive open-shell magnetic molecule, is synthesized and characterized by electron microscopy.

In The Atom and the Molecule (1916), Gilbert N. Lewis defined a few simple rules describing how atoms come together to form molecules. These empirical rules were later rationalized by quantum mechanics that explained why electrons pair to form bonds between atoms. Lewis also mentioned the existence of 'odd' molecules, now called radicals, where complete pairing is not possible because they simply have an odd number of electrons. Writing in Nature Nanotechnology, Pavliček, Mistry and co-workers now report the synthesis of a special member of these odd molecules, triangulene1. This is no small feat. Triangulene, C22H12, is a molecule with an even number of atoms and electrons but the connectivity of the molecule is such that it is impossible to pair all these electrons. In fact, triangulene is a graphene fragment with two odd electrons2. Those two electrons make triangulene unstable and thus extremely difficult to synthesize.

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Figure 1: Triangulene and related graphene fragments.

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  1. Manuel Melle-Franco is at CICECO — Aveiro Institute of Materials, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal

    Manuel Melle-Franco

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  1. Manuel Melle-Franco
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Correspondence to Manuel Melle-Franco.

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Melle-Franco, M. When 1 + 1 is odd. Nature Nanotech 12, 292–293 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2017.9

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