Fire boxed
Science 324, 1697–1699 (2009)
White phosphorus combusts violently in air,
making it a dangerous agent, and one that has
become controversial for its military uses.
of Cambridge, UK, and his co-workers have
constructed a molecular cage to defuse
this version of phosphorus. The cage selfassembles
in water from organic groups and
iron ions. A solution of the cage can suck up
solid white phosphorus, trapping its small,
tetrahedral molecules within the cages’ larger
ones (pictured, below).
The cage doesn’t prevent oxygen reaching
the white phosphorus, but does stop it
reacting because there isn’t enough room
within the cage for the normal products of
the reaction to form.
Benzene can displace the incendiary
molecule, releasing it from its confinement.
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