The hydrogenolysis of C60 and C70

Temperature-programmed reaction (TPR) of C₆₀ and C₇₀ with H₂ was carried out on nickel in order to investigate the thermal stability of the fullerenes in the catalytic hydrogenation. The TPR profiles showed two methanation peaks and the corresponding weight decrease above 420°C, indicating the hydrogenolysis to CH₄. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Electronic structure of the truncated-icosahedral C60 cluster

The electronic structure of the truncated-icosahedral C₆₀ cluster (“footballene”) is theoretically examined by performing a linear muffin-tin orbitais (LMTO) calculation.     

Semiempirical molecular dynamics studies of C60/C70 fullerene oxides: C60O, C60O2 and C70O

The spectral analysis indicates that all isomers of C₆₀O, C₇₀O and C₆₀O₂ have an epoxide-like structure (an oxygen atom bridging across a C–C bond). According to the geometrical structure analysis, there are two isomers of fullerene monoxide C₆₀O (the 5,6 bond and the 6,6 bond), eight isomers of fullerene monoxide C₇₀O and eight isomers of fullerene dioxide C₆₀O₂. In order to simulate the real reaction conditions at 300 K, the calculation of the different isomers of C₆₀O, C₆₀O₂ and C₇₀O fullerene oxides was carried out using the semiempirical molecular dynamics method with two different approaches: (a) consideration of the geometries and thermodynamic stabilities, and (b) consideration of the ozonolysis mechanism. According to the semiempirical molecular dynamic calculation analysis, the probable product of this ozonolysis reaction is C₆₀O with oxygen bridging over the 6–6 bond (C_2v). The most probable product in this reaction contains oxygen bridging across in the upper part of C₇₀ (6–6 bond in C₇₀O-2 or C₇₀O-4) an epoxide-like structure. C₆₀O₂-1, C₆₀O₂-3 and C₆₀O₂-5 are the most probable products for the fullerene dioxides. All of these reaction products are consistent with the experimental results. It is confirmed that the calculation results with the semiempirical molecular dynamics method are close to the experimental work. The semiempirical molecular dynamics method can offer both the reaction temperature effect by molecular dynamics and electronic structure, dipole moment by quantum chemistry calculation.     

Comment on nuclear spin weights of C60 and C60 buckminsterfullerene

The nuclear spin statistical weights obtained in a Letter by Harter and Reimer differ from the values obtained by the author a year earlier. However, the corrected numbers reported in the Erratum by Harter and Reimer agree with our values.     

Higher trifluoromethylated derivatives of C60, C60(CF3)16 and C60(CF3)18: Synthesis, structure, and theoretical study

Three isomers of C₆₀(CF₃)₁₆ and one isomer of C₆₀(CF₃)₁₈ have been isolated by HPLC from a mixture prepared by trifluoromethylation of C₆₀ with CF₃I in a glass ampoule at 380-400 °C. The molecular structures of the four new compounds have been determined by means of X-ray single crystal diffraction and discussed in terms of mechanistic pathways of their formation and relative stability according to the DFT calculations.     

C60的加成反应

富勒烯化学是以全碳分子球烯为母体的新兴有机化学领域, 在材料、医学及立体化学合成方法等方面具有广泛的应用和发展前景。本文综述了C₆₀的加成反应, 较全面地展示了富勒烯的化学性质。     

Geometry and electronic structure of rhombohedral C60 polymer

Geometry and electronic structure of the rhombohedral C₆₀ polymer are studied by means of density-functional theory (DFT) within the local-density-approximation (LDA). It is found that stacking sequence proposed by Chen et al. is more stable than the original model by Núñez-Regueiro et al., although the energy difference between the two is very small. The material is a semiconductor with the LDA gap of 0.68 eV. Conduction bands show dependence on the way of stacking, and density of states has a sharp peak at the conduction bottom. Bond lengths are also calculated and found to be in good agreement with the results of the X-ray structure analysis.     

Stereochemical patterns in bromofullerenes C60Br2 to C60Br12

The stabilities of different isomers of C₆₀Br_n have been calculated for n = 2 to 12. A general stereochemical pattern which emerges is the tendency to form strings created by the edge sharing of C₆Br₂ hexagonal faces. Stable structures are formed if these strings form loops, thereby eliminating string ends, which may involve the creation of C₆Br₃ hexagonal faces. A particularly stable structure is formed at C₆₀Br₆ in which the loop forms a C₁₀Br₆ fragment with a pentagonal pyramidal arrangement of six bromine atoms. Two isomers of C₆₀Br₁₂ are also particularly stable. One isomer contains two of these Br₆ pentagonal pyramids on opposite sides of the molecule, and the other isomer contains a single large loop wrapped around the middle of the molecule.     

Molecular Complexes of Fullerenes C60 and C70 with Saturated Amines

New molecular complexes of fullerenes C₆₀ and C₇₀ with leuco crystal violet (LCV, 1-3); leucomalachite green (LMG, 4-6); crystal violet lactone (CVL, 7); N,N,N′,N′-tetrabenzyl-p-phenylenediamine (TBPDA, 8, and 9); N,N,N′,N′-tetramethyl-p-phenylenediamine (TMPDA, 10, and 11); triphenylamine (TPA, 12, and 13); and substituted phenotellurazines (EPTA and TMPTA, 14, and 15) have been synthesized. Crystal structures have been solved for C₆₀ complexes with LMG (5, 6) TBPDA (8), TMPDA (10), and TPA (12). The C₆₀ molecules form closely packed double layers in 5 and 6, hexagonal layers in 10 and quasi-three-dimensional layers in 8 and 12. The substitution of disordered solvent molecules in the complexes with LMG (4, 5) by naphthalene ones results in the ordering of the C₆₀ molecules. According to IR-, UV-visible-NIR and ESR-spectroscopy the complexes have a neutral ground state. The spectra of 1-8, and 10 show intense charge transfer bands in the visible and NIR-range. On photoexcitation by white light (light-induced ESR (LESR) spectroscopy), 1 and 10 were shown to have an excited ionic state. The LESR signals were generated at light energies <2.25 eV indicating that the excited states in the complexes are realized mainly by direct charge transfer from donor to the C₆₀ molecule.     

A theoretical investigation of C5

Large-scale CEPA-1 calculations have been carried out for linear C₅, a molecule of substantial interest to combustion processes and astrochemistry. The equilibrium bond lengths are predicted to be 1.289 Å (outer CC bond) and 1.283 Å (inner CC bond), with an accuracy of 0.002 Å. The calculated ν₃ band origins of 2161 cm⁻¹ (105 CGTO basis) and 2137 cm⁻¹ (150 CGTO basis) are in good agreement with the experimental value of 2169 cm⁻¹. This band has an extremely large transition moment of 0.74 D. The less intense stretching fundamental ν₄ (μ=0.18 D) is predicted to occur at 1478 ± 10 cm⁻¹. Predictions for the totally symmetric stretching and the bending vibrational frequencies (in cm⁻¹) are 2008 (1σ_g⁺), 792 (2σ_g⁺), 570 (1π_u), 209 (1π_g) and 119 (2π_u).     

The dynamics of the double photoionization of C60

The photoionization dynamics of C₆₀ has been studied by means of synchrotron radiation. The findings for single-photon ionization covering an energy range of 15 -120 eV are presented and contrasted with other experiments recently performed to elucidate the fragmentation and the ionization behaviour of fullerences as a result of relatively high energy impact. In this context, special emphasis is paid to the temperature dependencies, the actual ionization mechanism and the fragmentation behaviour of ionic C₆₀.     

Reaction of C60 with KMnF4 : Isolation and characterization of a new isomer of C60F8 and re-evaluation of the structures of C60F7(CF3) and the known isomer of C60F8

The volatile fluorofullerene products of high-temperature reactions of C₆₀ with the ternary manganese(III, IV) fluorides KMnF₄, KMnF₅, A₂MnF₆ (A⁺ = Li⁺, K⁺, Cs⁺), and K₃MnF₆ were monitored as a function of reaction temperature, reaction time, and stoichiometric ratio by in situ Knudsen-cell mass spectrometry. When combined with fluorofullerene product ratios from larger-scale (bulk) screening reactions with the same reagents, an optimized set of conditions was found that yielded the greatest amount of C₆₀F₈ (KMnF₄/C₆₀ mol ratio 28-30, 470 °C, 4-5 h). Two isomers of C₆₀F₈ were purified by HPLC, one of which has not been previously reported. Quantum chemical calculations at the DFT level combined with 1D and 2D ¹⁹F NMR, FTIR, and FT-Raman spectroscopy indicate that the C₆₀F₈ isomer previously reported to be 1,2,3,8,9,12,15,16-C₆₀F₈ is actually 1,2,3,6,9,12,15,18-C₆₀F₈, making it the first high-temperature fluorofullerene with non-contiguous fluorine atoms. The new isomer, which was found to be 1,2,7,8,9,12,13,14-C₆₀F₈, is predicted to be 5.5 kJ mol⁻¹ more stable than 1,2,3,6,9,12,15,18-C₆₀F₈ at the DFT level. In addition, new DFT calculations and spectroscopic data indicate that the compound previously isolated from the high-temperature reaction of C₆₀ and K₂PtF₆ and reported to be 16-CF₃-1,2,3,8,9,12,15-C₆₀F₇ is actually 18-CF₃-1,2,3,6,8,12,15-C₆₀F₇.     

Catalytic hydrogenation of C60 fullerene

Catalytic hydrogenation of C₆₀ with H₂ or by hydrogen transfer reactions using Pd/SiO₂, Rh/Al₂O₃ and Ru/Al₂O₃ has been studied. The final products containing partially hydrogenated C₆₀ fullerence C₆₀H₄₂–C₆₀H₄₆ were characterized by FTIR, UV and NMR methods.     

Electronic structure of the complexes of fullerene C60 with polyaromatic molecules

Electronic structure of the complexes of fullerene C₆₀ with triphenylene (TP) and 9,10-diphenylantracene (DPA) has been studied by an X-ray fluorescent spectroscopy. The C Kα spectrum of a complex was shown to be almost an additive sum of the C Kα spectra measured for fullerene and organic ligand. The quantum-chemical calculation of a DPA·C₆₀ structural unit using density functional theory (DFT) revealed a slight charge transfer from DPA molecule to the C₆₀ cage. The intermolecular interaction in the complex was found to proceed through quit energy deep molecular orbitals.     

A theoretical study of the reaction of SiH2 with C2H2 and C2D2

Potential energy surfaces of the reaction of SiH₂ and C₂H₂ (and C₂D₂) have been calculated by means of ab initio molecular orbital theory at the QCISD/6-311G++(2df, 2p)//MP2/6-31G(d, p) level with corrections for the triple excitations to the QCISD energies. The barrier heights for the two reaction channels of the adduct, thus calculated, were further utilized for the dynamical calculation of the rate constants in the framework of quantum statistical Rice-Ramsperger-Kassel theory. Contributions of the rate constants of the various pathways to the total rate constant (K_T) for the disappearance of the reactants are critically examined and compared with experiment. The pressure dependence of K_T(C₂H₂) is primarily due to the formation of silirene. K_T(C₂D₂) is consistently higher than K_T(C₂H₂). The standard heat of formation of silirene is predicted to be 72.1 ± 3 kcal/mol. Rearrangement of silirene to vinylsilylene requires an activation energy smaller than that to silylacetylene.     

Surface-enhanced vibrational Raman spectroscopy of C60 and C70 on rough silver surfaces

The observation of the surface-enhanced vibrational Raman spectra of vapor-deposited C₆₀ and C₇₀ on rough silver films is reported. Both near-monolayer and multilayer films of pure C₆₀ and of C₆₀/C₇₀ mixtures are studied. The films are obtained by evaporating fullerene samples at temperatures of 683–875 K in ultra-high vacuum. Mixed fullerene samples were greatly enriched in C₇₀ by making use of the slightly different vapor pressures of the two major components at the low end of this temperature range. The spectra contain all the lines of the normal Raman spectra as well as several additional lines caused by a reduction in the stringency of the normal Raman selection rules. These results demonstrate the potential of this technique for detecting small quantities of fullerenes and obtaining their vibrational spectra.     

Pentamethylated derivatives of [60]fullerene: X-ray structure of the C60Me5H and ESR spectroscopy evidence for the stable radical C60Me5

Single-crystal X-ray study of 6,9,12,15,18-pentamethyl-1,6,9,12,15,18-hexahydro(C₆₀-I_h)[5,6]fullerene (C₆₀Me₅H) has been reported. In crystal packing, the stacking self-organization of molecules is realized. It is concluded that the formation of such polar columns is a general rule for crystals of C₆₀R₅H independent of the nature of the R group. An ESR spectrum of the stable fullerenyl radical of the cyclopentadienyl-type, C₆₀Me₅, was observed in a sample of the pentamethylated[60]fullerene. Rotation of methyl groups around C-C bonds is restricted on the ESR scale time and therefore protons within each methyl group are non-equivalent.     

Singlet and triplet potential energy surfaces of C3H2

The detailed singlet and triplet potential energy surfaces of C₃H₂ involving nine isomers and 13 transition structures are studied at the G3 level of theory. The rearrangement mechanisms and the electronic properties of various isomers in a broad energy range have been studied in both singlet and triplet states. Cyclopropenylidene and propargylene are found to be the most stable isomers in the singlet and triplet states, respectively. The singlet isomers are found to be more kinetically stable species as a result of high conversion barriers through which they pass. The calculations indicate that cyclopropyne in its triplet state is the least kinetically stable isomer. It is realized that the G3 method comprises both computational cost and accuracy and thus can be applied to investigation of potential energy surface of small molecules.