Chemists at Ruhr-Universität Bochum have found evidence that carbon atoms cannot only behave like particles but also like waves. This quantum-mechanical property is well-known for light particles such as electrons or hydrogen atoms. However, researchers have only rarely observed the wave-particle duality for heavy atoms, such as carbon. The team led by Prof Dr Wolfram Sander and Tim Schleif from the Chair for Organic Chemistry II together with Prof Dr Weston Thatcher Borden, University of North Texas, reports in the journal Angewandte Chemie.