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The wave nature of matter is a key ingredient of quantum physics and yet it defies our classical intuition. First proposed by Louis de Broglie a century ago, it has since been confirmed with a variety of particles from electrons up to molecules. Here we demonstrate new high-contrast quantum experiments with large and massive tailor-made organic molecules in a near-field interferometer. Our experiments prove the quantum wave nature and delocalization of compounds composed of up to 430 atoms, with a maximal size of up to 60 Å, masses up to m=6,910 AMU and de Broglie wavelengths down to λdB=h/mv≃1 pm. We show that even complex systems, with more than 1,000 internal degrees of freedom, can be prepared in quantum states that are sufficiently well isolated from their environment to avoid decoherence and to show almost perfect coherence.

Little is known about the chemical nature of the recently isolated carbon clusters (C,,, C,,, C,,, and so forth). One potential application of these materials is as highly dispersed supports for metal catalysts, and therefore the question of how metal atoms bind to C,, is of interest. Reaction of C,, with organometallic ruthenium and platinum reagents has shown that metals can be attached directly to the carbon framework. The native geometry of C,, is almost ideally constructed for dihaptobonding to a transition metal, and an x-ray diffraction analysis of the platinum complex [(C6H5)3P]2Pt(q2-C60)-C4H80 revealed a structure similar to that known for [(C,H,)3P]2Pt(q2-ethylene).The reactivity of C,, is not like that of relatively electron-rich planar aromatic molecules such as benzene. The carbon-carbon double bonds of C,, react like those of very electron-deficient arenes and alkenes.