A TRIPLE BOND FOR GALLIUM: Report of first organometallic compound of its kind convinoes some, but not all, scientists

Gregory H. Robinson has a way with gallium. Two years ago, he and his coworkers reported the first cyclogallene—an aromatic ring of three gallium atoms. Now, his group apparently has managed to force gallium into another unprecedented bonding arrangement: the first compound with a gallium-gallium triple bond. Robinson, a professor of chemistry at the University of Georgia, Athens, and three coworkers describe the synthesis and characterization of "the first gallyne" in last week's Journal of the American Chemical Society [ 119 , 5471 (1997)]. "I think this is a terrific discovery," comments chemistry professor Jerry L. Atwood of the University of Missouri, Columbia. Together with Robinson's cyclogallene work, he adds, "it really opens up main-group chemistry of the heavier elements. I think this will now be a very exciting and fruitful area." JACS Associate Editor Jack R. Norton, who handled the gallyne manuscript, tells C&EN: "It's a spectacular result if right." But not everyone who has ...