title: Gd3N@C2n (n = 40, 42, and 44): remarkably low HOMO-LUMO gap and unusual electrochemical reversibility of Gd3N@C88 .
abstract: High-performance liquid chromatography was used to isolate two new trimetallic nitride endohedral fullerenes, Gd3N@C2n (n = 42 and 44), and they were characterized by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry, UV-vis-NIR, and cyclic voltammetry. It was found that their electronic HOMO-LUMO gaps depend pronouncedly on the size of the cage, from a large band gap for Gd3N@C80 (2.02 V) to a small band gap for Gd3N@C88 (1.49 V). The electrochemical properties also change dramatically with the size of the cage, going from irreversible for the C80 cage to reversible for Gd3N@C88. The latter is the largest trimetallic cluster inside C88 isolated and characterized to date. Gd3N@C88 has one of the lowest electrochemical energy gaps for a nonderivatized metallofullerene.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina 29634, USA.
authors.forename: Manuel N
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Chaur
authors.forename: Frederic
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Melin
authors.forename: Bevan
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Elliott
authors.forename: Andreas J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Athans
authors.forename: Kenneth
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Walker
authors.forename: Brian C
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Holloway
authors.forename: Luis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Echegoyen