New Pseudo-Metallic Chemicals Discovered

The periodic table of the chemical elements is a tabular method of displaying the chemical elements, devised by the Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev in 1869. Mendeleev intended the table to illustrate recurring ("periodic") trends in the properties of the elements. The layout of the table has been refined and extended over time, as new elements have been discovered, and new theoretical models have been developed to explain chemical behavior.

The current standard table contains 117 confirmed elements as of October 16, 2006 (while element 118 has been synthesized, element 117 has not).

A new discovery by a University of Missouri-Columbia research team allows scientists to manipulate a molecule discovered 50 years ago in such a way as to give it metal-like properties, creating a new, "pseudo" element.

Fred Hawthorne, professor of radiology and director of the International Institute for Nano and Molecular Medicine at MU, discovered five decades ago an extremely stable molecule consisting of 12 boron atoms and 12 hydrogen atoms. Known as "boron cages," these molecules were difficult to change or manipulate, and sat dormant in Hawthorne's laboratory for many years.

A way to modify these cages has recently been discovered by his team, resulting in a large, new family of nano-sized compounds. In their study, which was published this month, Hawthorne, and Mark Lee, assistant professor at the institute and first author of the study, found that attaching different compounds to the cages gave them the properties of many different metals.

"Since the range of properties for these pseudo-metals is quite large, they might be referred to as 'pseudo-elements' belonging to a completely new pseudo-periodic table," Lee said. "All living organisms are essentially a grand concert of chemical reactions involving the transfer of electrons between molecules and metals. The electron transfer properties of this new family of molecules span the entire range of those found within living systems. Because of this, these pseudo-metals may be tuned for use as specific probes in living systems to detect or treat disease at the earliest state."

Medicine is the main beneficiary of the find, with applications in nanotechnology and various kinds of biomedical and chemical electronics, due to the wide range of flexibility these compounds possess.