Chemists have synthesised a new type of carbon-based molecule with an unprecedented twist in its structure. The team calls the looped molecule a ‘half-Möbius’, inspired by the Möbius strip — a twisted loop with one continuous surface. In the half-Möbius molecule, the chain of atoms is twisted by 90° to make the loop, instead of the full 180º seen in a standard Möbius strip. The molecule can exist in two versions depending on whether it twists left or right. The versions differ in chirality, meaning that they are mirror images of each other.
