Functionalization Chemistry of Fullerenes

University Of California-Los Angeles, Los Angeles CA

Investigators

Abstract

Professor Yves Rubin, of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of California, Los Angeles, is studying the functionalization chemistry of fullerenes with the support of the Organic and Macromolecular Chemistry Program in the Division of Chemistry and of the Solid-State Chemistry Program in the Division of Materials Research. Atoms are incorporated inside fullerenes through a chemical functionalization approach using rational organic mechanisms for breaking bonds within fullerene derivatives. Insertion of atoms or small molecules inside the resultant open fullerenes is followed by closure reactions, regenerating the fullerenes with their entrapped species. In addition to providing preparative access to endohedral fullerenes, Professor Rubin's studies are providing fundamental information about the chemical reactivity of fullerenes, leading to advances in the synthesis of functionalized fullerenes expected to display interesting materials properties, such as electroluminescence and ferromagnetism. Fullerenes possess a unique combination of structural, topological, and electronic features. Of particular significance in the discovery and elucidation of the unusual physical and chemical properties of the fullerenes has been the development of techniques for their chemical modification and for the incorporation of atoms and small molecules within the fullerene shell. With the support of the Organic and Macromolecular Chemistry Program in the Division of Chemistry and the Solid-State Chemistry Program in the Division of Materials Research, Professor Yves Rubin, of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of California, Los Angeles, is developing new chemical methods to achieve these modifications. By the discovery of selective reactions capable of creating and of repairing holes in the fullerenes, Professor Rubin is able to prepare fullerenes containing a variety of species. These studies provide new methodologies for the selective chemical modification of the fullerenes and offer promise for the preparation of materials displaying important and useful physical properties.