For the first time, seeing carbon can bond with 6 other atoms

A pyramid-shaped carbon molecule has just been studied for the first time and the special thing is that it's not like what we have learned in basic chemical programming. This molecule contains a carbon atom, linked to 6 other atoms instead of 4.

We know that atoms form molecules by sharing electrons. Carbon has four electrons that can be shared with other atoms. But under certain conditions, carbon can go beyond this limit, according to Moritz Malischewski, a chemist at Freie University Berlin. It was he who synthesized and studied this molecule, called hexamethylbenzene . Typically, this compound is shaped like a rudder of a ship, which consists of 6 carbon atoms arranged at the tops of a hexagon.

Carbon atoms have 6 possible bonds.

In an experiment conducted in 1973, German chemists removed two electrons of the compound, then hypothesized that the structure of a positively charged version of C ₆ (CH ₃ ) ₆₂ + will be broken down, forming a new pyramid-shaped structure. In this state, there are 6 electrons available to bind the top of the pyramid to the remaining 5 carbon atoms, Mr. Malischewski explained.

However, there has not been any other test to confirm this information, until today. It's an anomaly, and that structure exists only in low temperatures, in highly acidic liquids. Therefore, Malischewski spent 6 months tinkering with a strong acid solution to produce this special compound, then took a few milligrams of crystal and observed it based on X-rays.

The X-ray diffraction pattern shows that this molecule is indeed a pyramid shaped like a 5-sided shape. Quantum measurements and other experiments have shown that a carbon atom with six bonds can exist , but the newly discovered crystalline structure is the most vivid evidence for those doubts. Dean Tantillo at the University of California, Davis.

"It sheds light on the nature of the bond and the limits of our understanding of organic chemical structure ," he said. Under normal temperature and humidity conditions, the molecule will destroy. right away, so it doesn't seem to have any practical applications, like making a new type of carbon nanotube, but Malischewski said he was intrigued by the question of whether the molecule 'It's all a story of challenges that astonish chemists by what is possible , ' he said.