The reason this is important is not because the molecule has any practical utility, either now or in the future. Most of the reactions it participates in will probably be various decompositions of itself into other. The real importance comes from what this molecule can teach us about the laws of nature--why Si is the way it is, so distinct from carbon. Specifically, how do the valence electrons of Si manage in a 5 member ring? What does that wave-function look like, and does it agree with our predictions? Do we understand this corner of the universe as well as we think we do? Orbitals are tricky things to compute, so we need difficult to construct molecules to test our calculations.
Chemists really. Chem-E’s basically just play IRL Factorio at work. The graphs in Factorio look almost exactly like OSI PiSoft charts, which basically every chemical plant uses.
Like Cp--M--Cp where the '--' are an unusual kind of 'bond' which is somewhat like five carbon-metal bonds, although I'm sure there is a more accurate orbital description of the interaction.
Perfect! I read this “heart-warming” overview of two papers in Science and learned zero about why this is of any significance. The discovery is significant but I had to probe Opus 4.6 to find out why.
The personal focus is a
distraction. It would be great if science writers could focus on the science and significance of the advance.
Not sure why you were downvoted. I love the breathless enthusiasm of the article, but I still have no idea why (or if) this is important. What did you learn from Opus?
In this case aromatic means a ring of atoms where there is electron sharing among all the members of the ring.
They're called aromatic rings because before they understood the structure, they grouped them by their behavior, and the aromatics contain a lot of volatile organics like benzene, toluene, phenol, which have strong odors.
Massive molecule with a lithium salt on every silicon atom. It's not going to have basically any vapor pressure and thus effectively no aroma unless there are breakdown products
Even if it were volatile, you likely wouldn't be able to smell it. The olfactory sense is complicated and weird, and targeted at organic chemistry. You can smell a few inorganic things (notably, elemental osmium, whose name literally means "smell" because that's so unusual), but your receptors are unlikely to trigger for anything that far removed.
It is organic; it's mostly carbon. The presence of a metal atom doesn't make it inorganic. To be inorganic it has to have no carbons (or at least, not in the backbone of the molecule).
No, it's a super weird molecule that is big, expensive to make and probably form a solid. It can not replace solvents like benzene.
The weird structure of the electrons in the silicon cycle may be useful as a catalyst(or not, it's too early to be sure). Imagine it is like the Platinum in the car exhaust, not the solvent in the paint remover.
This particular silicon compound is unlikely to help much in that direction.
On the other hand, silicone resins and elastomers are already in widespread use in applications where resistance to high temperatures or burning is required (silicone =/= silicon, the former coming from silic-on + ket-one, a name based on a wrong hypothesis).
However, their mechanical resistance is usually modest, so if that is important they must be used either in combinations with other materials or reinforced, e.g. with glass fiber.
They are also more expensive than hydrocarbon-based plastics, so they are typically used only where strictly necessary.
CHEM-Es are build a little different from the rest of us.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metallocene
Like Cp--M--Cp where the '--' are an unusual kind of 'bond' which is somewhat like five carbon-metal bonds, although I'm sure there is a more accurate orbital description of the interaction.
The personal focus is a distraction. It would be great if science writers could focus on the science and significance of the advance.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dilithium
They're called aromatic rings because before they understood the structure, they grouped them by their behavior, and the aromatics contain a lot of volatile organics like benzene, toluene, phenol, which have strong odors.
The weird structure of the electrons in the silicon cycle may be useful as a catalyst(or not, it's too early to be sure). Imagine it is like the Platinum in the car exhaust, not the solvent in the paint remover.
On the other hand, silicone resins and elastomers are already in widespread use in applications where resistance to high temperatures or burning is required (silicone =/= silicon, the former coming from silic-on + ket-one, a name based on a wrong hypothesis).
However, their mechanical resistance is usually modest, so if that is important they must be used either in combinations with other materials or reinforced, e.g. with glass fiber.
They are also more expensive than hydrocarbon-based plastics, so they are typically used only where strictly necessary.