EurekAlert  September 5, 2023 The versatility of the metallocenes stems from their ability to stabilize a wide range of formal electron counts. To date, d-block metallocenes with an electron count of up to 20 have been synthesized and utilized in catalysis, sensing, and other fields but, those with more than 20-electron counts have remained elusive because the metal–carbon bonds in d-block metallocenes become weaker with increasing deviation from the stable 18-electron configuration. An international team of researchers (Japan, Germany, Russia) synthesized, isolated, and characterized a 21-electron cobaltocene derivative. The discovery was based on the ligand design that allowed the coordination […]