Synthesis and characterization of tetrakis-silylated C60 isomers

A photochemical reaction of C(60) with disilane in a 2:3 ratio affords the isomer mixture of the tetrakis-adduct of C(60)((t)BuPh(2)Si)(4) as the major product. The use of a three-stage HPLC separation system isolated three of their isomers. Their structural assignments were based on FAB mass, UV-vis, NMR, and cyclic voltammetry (CV) measurements. The CV analysis showed that the terakis-adduct has lower oxidation and higher reduction potentials than the bis-adduct C(60)((t)BuPh(2)Si)(2) and the parent C(60).