Scientists Create New Heavy-Metal Molecule: 'Berkelocene'

An anonymous reader shared this report from the Mercury News:

After a year of fastidious planning, a microscopic sample of the ultra-rare radioactive element berkelium arrived at a Berkeley Lab. With just 48 hours to experiment before it would become unusable, a group of nearly 20 researchers focused intently on creating a brand-new molecule. Using a chemical glove box, a polycarbonate glass box with protruding gloves that shields substances from oxygen and moisture, scientists combined the berkelium metal with an organic molecule containing only carbon and hydrogen to create a chemical reaction... [Post-doc researcher Dominic] Russo, researcher Stefan Minasian, and 17 other scientists at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory had created berkelocene, a new molecule that usurps theorists' expectations about how carbon bonds with heavy-metal elements.

In the future, berkelocene may help humanity safely dispose of nuclear waste, according to a study published in the academic journal Science... The new molecular structure is, in the nomenclature of researchers, a 'sandwich.' In this formation, a berkelium atom, serving as the filling, lays in between two 8-membered carbon rings — the 'bread' — and resembles an atomic foot-long sub. 'It has this very symmetric geometry, and it's the first time that that's been observed,' Minasian said.

The researchers believe more accurate models for how actinide elements like uranium behave will help solve problems related to long-term nuclear waste storage.

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