Fullerenes as polyradicals

We present the investigation of the electronic structure of X₆₀ molecules (X=C, Si), containing 60 odd electrons with spin-dependent interaction between them. Conditions for the electrons to be excluded from the covalent pairing are discussed. A computational spin-polarized quantum-chemical scheme is suggested to evaluate four parameters—energy of radicalization, exchange integral, atom spin density, and squared spin— to characterize the effect quantitatively. A polyradical character of the species, weak for C₆₀ and strong for Si₆₀, is established.