00:03making changes to a single molecule of well anything is difficult imagine trying to peel
00:08a banana with a pair of pliers the size of the empire state building but now researchers in
00:13spain have developed a way to do just that without destroying the molecule in the process a world
00:18first the scientists started with a molecule with the chemical formula c18 h18 c14 which is a bunch
00:24of carbon atoms with chlorine flanking each one but by cooling the molecule and attaching it to
00:29a piece of salt-covered copper they were able to unattach the chlorine atoms leaving just the
00:33carbon behind the leftover carbon should have paired with other atoms to form new molecules
00:38but these didn't and researchers found that with a mild electrical push they could make these new
00:43solitary molecules pair becoming what's called bent alkene or if they move them around more carefully
00:48they might pair up into a cyclobutatine ring and they could change them around as they saw fit all
00:53they had to do was provide another jolt of electrons to do so which the researchers say could change the
00:58way we study molecular bonds possibly one day giving us complete control over large-scale chemical reactions
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