New Chemistry Discovery Featured in "Science"

New Chemistry Discovery Featured in "Science"

Two years ago, a Utah State University researcher discovered aromaticity, a property in chemistry that was initially thought to occur only in organic material. Researcher Alexander Boldyrev, along with his colleague Lai-Sheng Wang, a professor at Washington State University and a researcher at the Pacific Northwest Lab, made a breakthrough by discovering aromaticity in inorganic material such as metals. Today, Boldyrev and Wang have made another breakthrough and discovered antiaromaticity, a property that makes materials weak.

The study, "All-Metal Antiaromatic Molecule," is featured in the April 24 issue of "Science" magazine. Boldyrev said his findings will explain, for instance, why certain metals are stronger or weaker than others.

Aromaticity allows a substance to be strong or less reactive to foreign substances. Since the strong substance, such as an aromatic metal alloy, won't react easily, it is desirable for many purposes in industry and in research. 

Boldyrev's new findings dealing with antiaromaticity will help chemists understand why certain materials are weaker than others and why they are very reactive to foreign substances. The research gives Boldyrev, an associate professor in the chemistry and biochemistry department, a conceptual breakthrough in understanding chemical bonding in metal clusters.