Fullerenes

Abstract

This chapter reviews the literature reported during 2007 on fullerenes chemistry including fullerene production and properties, organic and organometallic chemistry, endohedral derivatives and advanced materials as well as theoretical studies and possible applications of fullerene and its derivatives. HighlightsThe in vitro antitumour activity of a novel fullerene-maleic anhydride derivative synthesized via radical polymerization has been tested and the result showed that the derivative exhibits better antitumor activity against HeLa cells and bone tumour cells. The antitumor mechanism of water-soluble fullerene derivative has been investigated. 1 Production, separation and properties of fullerenesAn integrated technology for the manufacture of C 60 and C 70 fullerenes with purity exceeding 99.5 and 98.0 wt%, respectively, has been developed. 2 Extractable amounts of C 60 and C 70 fullerenes have been obtained by two-step pyrolysis of PCF 3 and high-temperature pyrolysis of two fullerene precursors-1,2 0 -binaphthyl and 1,3-oligonaphthylene. The formation of fullerenes was confirmed by MALDI-TOF and HPLC analysis. 4 Isolable quantities of C 60 fullerene have been achieved by flash pyrolysis of bromine-substituted truxenone derivatives. 5 Size-tunable hexagonal C 60 fullerene nanosheets have been prepared using a liquid-liquid interfacial precipitation method. The prepared C 60 nanosheets are porous, very thin, and foldable in nature. 6 Saturated C 60 fullerenes with O 2 , N 2 or Ar have been achieved by precipitation of C 60 from 1,2-dichlorobenzene solution saturated by these gases. The structure and chemical composition of the fullerenes was characterized by spectroscopic techniques. 7 Onion-like fullerenes nanocarbons were synthesized in high yield and quality by arc discharge in water between pure graphite electrodes at the current of 50 A. Many spectroscopic techniques were employed to study the crystallography of these carbon nanostructures. 8 Comparative analysis of processes in carbon arc and RF plasma during fullerene production has been presented. It has been found that the zone of fullerene formation is significantly larger in RF plasma reactor compared to arc reactor. 9 An overview of the synthesis and characterization of different types of fullerene dimers such as directly bonded dimers, a short chain C 60 dimer and other dimers with bridge molecules of varying length have been presented.

Accurate Quantum Chemical Description of Non-Covalent Interactions in Hydrogen Filled Endohedral Fullerene Complexes

“…3 This achievement and other work published in the same year 4,5 motivated further theoretical and experimental studies on this and similar systems. [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13] There is nonetheless some discrepancy between the results of theoretical investigations and experimental findings. Calculations based on molecular mechanics, 14 semiempirical, [15][16][17] or density functional theory 18 (DFT) predict metastable complexes (positive complexation energy) with the total number of encapsulated hydrogen molecules exceeding 20, compared to a number of only one found in the experiment for an intact C 60 cage.…”

Reaction of water-soluble fullerenes with O2˙−and other reactive radical species

“…The great excitement commencing with the advent of fullerenes and their large scale production was the inception to a wealth of scientific projects focused on two major disciplines -material chemistry 1 and bio-medical applications. 2 Research and development of bio-medical applications was, however, penalized by the necessity to work with soluble and biocompatible materials.…”