Atomically precise high-pressure synthesis: From statistical solids to designed metastable matter
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ABSTRACT
High-pressure solid-state reactions offer a route to atomically precise synthesis beyond the length-scale limitations of surface assembly and solution-phase chemistry. The recent synthesis of micrometer-long, carbon-sheathed copper single-metal-atom chains from compressed beta-copper phthalocyanine demonstrates how pressure can first organize a molecular crystal and then lock in the selected registry through polymerization. This perspective frames that advance as the fourth rung of a qualitative Jacob’s ladder for solid-state synthesis, moving from melting and nucleation through topochemistry and ordering, to pressure-induced self-organization. Mechanistically, pressure reorganizes the molecular stack, reduces selected intermolecular separations to reactive distances, and allows heating to trap metastable order in a framework that survives decompression. -
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REFERENCES
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Zhang Z., Ma S., Duan D., et al. (2026). Atomically precise high-pressure synthesis: From statistical solids to designed metastable matter. The Innovation Physics 1:100010. https://doi.org/10.59717/j.tip.2026.100010
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Zhang Z., Ma S., Duan D., et al. (2026). Atomically precise high-pressure synthesis: From statistical solids to designed metastable matter. The Innovation Physics 1:100010. https://doi.org/10.59717/j.tip.2026.100010
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Figure 1.
Jacob's ladder of high-pressure solid-state reaction
