A single carbon atom stitches flat molecules into 3D shapes chemists could not reach before

In Osaka, chemist Mamoru Tobisu and his team found a way to use one carbon atom as a kind of stitch, joining flat molecules into rigid 3D structures in a single step — making four new bonds around one central atom. Structures like these are prized in medicines and new materials but are usually hard to build. The method, published in Nature, even works at a practical scale on an ordinary lab bench, and can join two different molecules as well as two identical ones.

SDG 9 · Industry, innovation and infrastructure — Mechanism: tech innovation