from the poke-n-prod dept.
Will Ware pointed out on slashdot that two phenyl (C6H5) radicals have now been pushed together to form a molecule of biphenyl.
Saw-Wai Hla, Ludwig Bartels, Gerhard Meyer, and Karl-Heinz Rieder, writing in [Phys.Rev.Lett. 85:2777-2780 25Sep2000] describe forming phenyl radicals from iodobenzene, pushing two radicals together mechanically, and forming a bond between them to yield a biphenyl molecule. All of this was done with an STM.
