Endohedral fullerene

Rendering of a buckminsterfullerene containing a noble gas atom (M@C60).
Electron microscopy images of M3N@C80 peapods. Metal atoms (M = Ho or Sc) are seen as dark spots inside the fullerene molecules; they are doubly encapsulated in the C80 molecules and in the nanotubes.[1]

Endohedral fullerenes, also called endofullerenes, are fullerenes that have additional atoms, ions, or clusters enclosed within their inner spheres. The first lanthanum C60 complex called La@C60 was synthesized in 1985.[2] The @ (at sign) in the name reflects the notion of a small molecule trapped inside a shell. Two types of endohedral complexes exist: endohedral metallofullerenes and non-metal doped fullerenes.

  1. ^ Gimenez-Lopez, Maria del Carmen; Chuvilin, Andrey; Kaiser, Ute; Khlobystov, Andrei N. (2010). "Functionalised endohedral fullerenes in single-walled carbon nanotubes". Chem. Commun. 47 (7): 2116–2118. doi:10.1039/C0CC02929G. hdl:10347/32317. PMID 21183975.
  2. ^ Chai, Yan; Guo, Ting; Jin, Changming; Haufler, Robert E.; Chibante, L. P. Felipe; Fure, Jan; Wang, Lihong; Alford, J. Michael; Smalley, Richard E. (1991). "Fullerenes wlth Metals Inside". Journal of Physical Chemistry. 95 (20): 7564–7568. doi:10.1021/j100173a002.