Letter abstract
Nature Materials 7, 790 - 794 (2008)
Published online: 7 September 2008 | doi:10.1038/nmat2275
Subject Categories: Nanoscale materials | Design synthesis and processing
Two Ih-symmetry-breaking C60 isomers stabilized by chlorination
Yuan-Zhi Tan1,2, Zhao-Jiang Liao1,2, Zhuo-Zhen Qian1, Rui-Ting Chen1, Xin Wu1, Hua Liang1, Xiao Han1, Feng Zhu1, Sheng-Jun Zhou1, Zhiping Zheng1, Xin Lu1, Su-Yuan Xie1, Rong-Bin Huang1 & Lan-Sun Zheng1
One abiding surprise in fullerene science is that Ih-symmetric buckminsterfullerene C60 (ref. 1) (Ih–C60 or #1,812C60, the nomenclature specified by symmetry or by Fowler's spiral algorithm2) remains the sole C60 species experimentally available. Setting it apart from the other 1,811 topological isomers (isobuckminsterfullerenes) is its exclusive conformity with the isolated-pentagon rule3, which states that stable fullerenes have isolated pentagons. Although gas-phase existence of isobuckminsterfullerenes has long been suspected4, 5, 6, 7, synthetic efforts have yet to yield successful results. Here, we report the realization of two isobuckminsterfullerenes by means of chlorination of the respective C2v- and Cs-symmetric C60 cages. These chlorinated species, #1,809C60Cl8(1) and #1,804C60Cl12(2), were isolated in experimentally useful yields. Structural characterization by crystallography unambiguously established the unique pentagon–pentagon ring fusions. These distinct structural features are directly responsible for the regioselectivity observed in subsequent substitution of chlorines, and also render these unprecedented derivatives of C60 isomers important for resolving the long-standing puzzle of fullerene formation by the Stone–Wales transformation scheme8, 9, 10, 11.
- State Key Laboratory for Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces and Department of Chemistry, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China
- These authors contributed equally to this work
Correspondence to: Su-Yuan Xie1 e-mail: syxie@xmu.edu.cn
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