Carbonyls in the s block: Conventional wisdom in chemistry distinguishes transition metals from other elements by their use of d orbitals in bonding. Wu et al. now report that alkaline earth metals can slide their electrons from s- to d-orbital bonding motifs as well (see the Perspective by Armentrout). Calcium, strontium, and barium all form coordination complexes with a cubic arrangement of eight carbonyl ligands and an 18-electron valence shell. The compounds were characterized in frozen neon matrices by vibrational spectroscopy and in gas phase by mass spectrometry. Science , this issue p. 912 ; see also p. 849

Herein we propose a general mechanism for the racemization of [n]helicenes up to n = 24. It is a concerted process for n = 4–7, but a multi-step mechanism is followed for n ≥ 8, involving 2n − 14 intermediates. The changes in the barriers are a delicate consequence of the steric hindrance and the π-interactions.

A quasi-planar member of the so-called ‘Wankel motor’ family, B₁₈²⁻, is found.