A VERSION of an unstable molecule that has only ever existed in interstellar space has been made in the lab. It could be used as a catalyst, as it has a long, slender tip that could poke into previously inaccessible regions of a reactant, and high-energy electrons that could destabilise strong bonds.
Cyclopropenylidene (C3H2) is a triangular molecule with a carbon atom at each corner. Two are bonded to hydrogen and have “full” outer shells of electrons, but one has an unfilled shell and reacts with any molecule it encounters. This is not a problem in…
