Capturing Unstable Metallofullerenes

Abstract

Metallofullerenes are interesting molecules with unique structures and physicochemical properties. After they are formed in the arc-discharge process, they are first buried in the carbon soot, which requires solvent extraction to fish them out, normally followed by HPLC separation. In this minireview, we summarize the main procedures developed to obtain pure metallofullerenes, including well-established extraction with conventional fullerene solvents followed by HPLC (procedure (I) as well as several methods developed for isolation and purification of unstable fullerenes insoluble in conventional fullerene solvents, including chemical modification followed by dissolution (II.1), chemical functionalization during extraction followed by HPLC (II.2), and chemical functionalization of ionic EMFs after redox-extraction followed by HPLC (procedure II.3). The main focus here is on procedure II.3, for which the current status and future perspective are discussed.

The Effect of Different Substances Embedded in Fullerene Cavity on Surfactant Self-Assembly Behavior through Molecular Dynamics Simulation

“…The discovery of fullerenes [1] and the realization of their preparation methods in macroscopic quantities [2] have made possible extensive studies of C 60 and have since opened a new era of carbon science research. Fullerenes have attracted much attention in the fields of physics, chemistry, materials science, and even architecture and art because of their uniquely perfect symmetry and hollow structure [3][4][5][6][7]. However, the solubility of fullerenes in water is minimal, which greatly limits the development of fullerenes.…”