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Synthesis

Chemistry In Pictures

Chemistry in Pictures: Secret shapeshifting science

by Craig Bettenhausen
March 5, 2021

 

A pile of transparent, octagonal, gold crystals.
Credit: Credit: Rob Ives, Durham University

The Chempics team saw this group of crystals on the Instagram feed of Durham University PhD student Rob Ives and wanted to know more. The compound is Cucurbit[6]uril, and it’s part of Ives’s graduate work on “nonconvalent control of shapeshifting molecules,” he says, adding mysteriously, “that’s all I can really say for now, I’m afraid.” A little digging reveals the satisfyingly symmetrical structure for Cucurbit[6]uril shown. Well, Rob, you’ve piqued our curiosity!

A complex, cyclical, organic molecule.
Credit: Sigma-Aldrich

Credit: Rob Ives, Durham University (@rob_ives on Instagram)

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