Highly electronegative hyperhalogens will have applications in
many industries An international team of researchers has
discovered a new class of highly electronegative chemical
species called hyperhalogens, which use superhalogens as
building blocks around a metal atom. The new chemical species
may have application in many industries. Researchers from
Virginia Commonwealth University, McNeese State University in
Lake Charles, La., and the University of Konstanz in Germany
report their discovery in the Oct. 6 international chemistry
journal Angewandte Chemie International Edition. The journal
designated the paper as “very important,” recognition granted to
only 5 percent of papers it receives. Chlorine is one of the
elements called halogens, a group that includes fluorine,
bromine, and iodine. These chemicals are known for their
disinfecting and deodorizing power and are also used in some
medications and industrial processes. Researchers say that
hyperhalogens could be useful in industries where large amounts