Chemists isolate stable boron-oxygen molecules after 60-year hunt

· Science

After more than 60 years of unsuccessful attempts, scientists have isolated stable examples of elusive boron-oxygen molecules once considered too unstable to capture, ScienceDaily reported. The breakthrough was achieved using relatively simple chemical reactions, according to the account, and could open the way to an entirely new class of exotic compounds. Boron-oxygen species have long interested chemists because of their unusual bonding, but prior efforts to isolate them failed. The report did not name the research team or the journal. If the molecules prove amenable to further chemistry, they could seed new materials and synthetic routes that were previously impractical.

Why it matters：Long-sought molecules that finally become isolable often become building blocks, so this result is a potential starting point for new materials and reaction chemistry rather than an end in itself.

Key points

  • Chemists had tried and failed for more than 60 years.
  • The isolation used relatively simple chemical reactions.
  • The compounds were previously considered too unstable to capture.

Sources (original reporting)

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