Homo[2]catenane breaks new territory!

Love Triumphs Over Hate to Make Exotic New Compound: Compound Could...

Jonathan Barnes and his colleagues "are the first to permanently interlock two identical tetracationic rings that normally are repelled by each other."

Most organic radicals possess short lifetimes, but this unusual radical compound is stable in air and water.

The tight mechanical bond endures despite the unfavorable electrostatic interactions.

The two interlocked rings house an immense amount of charge in a mere cubic nanometer of space. The compound, a homo[2]catenane, can adopt one of six oxidation states and can accept up to eight electrons in total.

"Anything that accepts this many electrons has possibilities for batteries," Barnes said.