Weak hydrogen bonds dethrone copper as the most stable metal binder, opening a new path for metal selection
KAIST researchers have discovered that tuning weak hydrogen bonds can reverse the traditional Irving–Williams series, which ranks the stability of metal complexes. This finding challenges long-held chemical principles and offers new possibilities for metal separation and catalyst design.
Why it matters
This fundamental shift in understanding metal stability could lead to more efficient industrial processes for separating metals and designing advanced catalysts.
by The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST)
edited by Sadie Harley , reviewed by Robert Egan
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Add as preferred source How hydrogen bonding around the metal selectively lowers copper's stability, reversing the conventional Irving–Williams series. Credit: KAIST Copper has been knocked off the top of a stability ranking it had dominated for decades. Without altering the atoms directly bonded to the metal, a KAIST research team reversed the longstanding trend in which copper generally forms the most stable complexes by tuning only the weak hydrogen bonds in its surrounding environment. The findings, which appear in the Journal of the American Chemical Society , could open new avenues for selective metal separation and recognition, as well as catalyst design.
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