Credit: Image courtesy of the authors and Angewandte Chemie International Edition 55, 3704 (2016).
A recently predicted doubly ionized molecule with extraordinary stability could help make very safe and efficient batteries. The image shows the predicted structure of this boron (B) (pink), carbon (C) (black), nitrogen (N) (blue) molecule: B12(CN)122-. In the optimized geometry, CN moieties are bound radially to the icosahedron made of boron atoms with the carbon atoms attached to the boron atoms.