Transmutation of fullerenes.
Fullerenes were pyrolyzed by subliming them into a stream of flowing argon gas and then passing them through an oven heated to approximately 1000 degrees C. C(76), C(78), and C(84) all readily lost carbons to form smaller fullerenes. In the case of C(78), some isomerization was seen. Pyrolysis of (3)He@C(76) showed that all or most of the (3)He was lost during the decomposition. C(60) passes through the apparatus with no decomposition and no loss of helium.
Cross
R James
RJ
Department of Chemistry, Yale University, PO Box 208107, New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8107, USA. james.cross@yale.edu
Saunders
Martin
M