Perfluorocubane catches electron in molecular box

3D molecular structure of perfluorocubane

Source: © 2022 Masafumi Sugiyama et al

Cube-shaped molecule can hold a single electron – a real-life version of the ‘particle in a box’ principle from quantum mechanics textbooks

Researchers in Japan have made perfluorocubane for the first time. When reduced, the molecule can hold a single electron inside its box-like structure – an unusual, real-life example of the quantum mechanical ‘particle in a box’ principle.