Bimetallic Carbidos: Hard-Wiring a Single Atom of Carbon

This project explores the design, synthesis, characterisation and applications of novel materials in which metals are bridged by a single carbon atom. Materials based on metals (M) separated by a single oxygen atom (O) underpin all manner of technologies from the pigments of antiquity to modern electronics. Electronic/magnetic communication across MOM bridges is thus extremely well understood. Materials with two metals bridged by one carbon atom (MCM) are in contrast, rare and poorly understood. Developing synthetic routes to such materials will make it possible to map the diversity of chemical and electronic features against theoretical models in search of new materials with unique reactivities and properties for commercial exploitation.