A newly discovered aluminium structure could open the door to cheaper, greener chemical manufacturing.
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Researchers have uncovered an unusual new form of aluminium that challenges long-held assumptions about how this common metal behaves.
Researchers at King’s College London have identified an unusual new form of aluminum, one of the most abundant metals in Earth’s crust. The discovery points to a much less expensive and more sustainable substitute for rare earth metals that are widely used in modern technology and industry.
Dr. Clare Bakewell, a senior lecturer in the Department of Chemistry, led the study. Her team created highly reactive aluminum-based molecules capable of breaking some of the strongest chemical bonds. Their findings, published in Nature Communications, also describe molecular structures that have never been observed before, opening the door to new types of chemical reactivity.
A central achievement of the research is the first reported example of a cyclotrialumane. This compound consists of three aluminum atoms linked together in a triangular arrangement. The three-atom structure shows an unusual level of reactivity while remaining intact when dissolved in different solutions.
That stability allows it to participate in a variety of chemical processes. Among them are the splitting of dihydrogen and the controlled insertion and chain growth of ethene, a 2-carbon hydrocarbon that serves as a key building block in chemical manufacturing.
Reducing Dependence on Precious Metals
Metals play an essential role in producing both bulk and specialty chemicals. However, many industrial reactions, especially those involving catalysis, depend on precious metals such as platinum. Mining and refining these materials is costly and can cause significant environmental harm.
Scientists have long been searching for alternative metals to use in chemical transformations. Dr. Clare Bakewell said: “Transition metals are the workhorses of chemical synthesis and catalysis – but many of the most useful are becoming increasingly difficult to access and extract – often being located in regions of political instability, increasing the demand and price.
“Chemists have been looking towards more common elements from the periodic table, and we chose aluminum, as it’s super abundant, making it ~20,000 times less expensive than precious metals such as platinum and palladium.”
Beyond Mimicking Transition Metals
Beyond designing aluminum compounds for synthetic applications, the team has uncovered entirely new reaction pathways.
Dr. Bakewell said, “What’s special about this work, is that we’re pushing the boundaries of chemical knowledge. Most excitingly, we can use this aluminum trimer to build completely new compounds with levels of reactivity that have never been observed before – these include the 5- and 7-membered aluminum and carbon rings formed through reaction with ethene. These capabilities go beyond the transition metals we were originally trying to mimic, to the forefront of chemical research.”
Bakewell believes this chemistry could enable scientists to invent new reaction types and assemble larger molecular structures with distinctive properties. Such advances may ultimately support the development of new materials and industrial products.
She said, “We’re very much in the exploratory phase, and we’re just at the start of beginning to unlock the capability of these earth-abundant materials.
“But from what we’ve seen already, this chemistry could support a transition to cleaner, greener and cheaper chemical production, whilst making new discoveries along the way.”
The Life of Earth
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