title: Sponge-like molecular cage for purification of fullerenes.
abstract: Since fullerenes are available in macroscopic quantities from fullerene soot, large efforts have been geared toward designing efficient strategies to obtain highly pure fullerenes, which can be subsequently applied in multiple research fields. Here we present a supramolecular nanocage synthesized by metal-directed self-assembly, which encapsulates fullerenes of different sizes. Direct experimental evidence is provided for the 1:1 encapsulation of C60, C70, C76, C78 and C84, and solid state structures for the host-guest adducts with C60 and C70 have been obtained using X-ray synchrotron radiation. Furthermore, we design a washing-based strategy to exclusively extract pure C60 from a solid sample of cage charged with a mixture of fullerenes. These results showcase an attractive methodology to selectively extract C60 from fullerene mixtures, providing a platform to design tuned cages for selective extraction of higher fullerenes. The solid-phase fullerene encapsulation and liberation represent a twist in host-guest chemistry for molecular nanocage structures.
authors.affiliation: Institut de Química Computacional i Catàlisi and Departament de Química, Universitat de Girona, Campus Montilivi, Girona, Catalonia 17071, Spain.
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: García-Simón
authors.affiliation: Institut de Química Computacional i Catàlisi and Departament de Química, Universitat de Girona, Campus Montilivi, Girona, Catalonia 17071, Spain.
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Garcia-Borràs
authors.affiliation: 1] Institut de Química Computacional i Catàlisi and Departament de Química, Universitat de Girona, Campus Montilivi, Girona, Catalonia 17071, Spain [2] Serveis Tècnics de Recerca (STR), Universitat de Girona, Parc Cinetífic i Tecnològic, Girona, Catalonia 17003, Spain.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gómez
authors.affiliation: Servei de RMN and Departament de Química, Facultat de Ciències, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Campus UAB, Bellaterra, Catalonia 08193, Spain.
authors.forename: Teodor
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Parella
authors.affiliation: Institut de Química Computacional i Catàlisi and Departament de Química, Universitat de Girona, Campus Montilivi, Girona, Catalonia 17071, Spain.
authors.forename: Sílvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Osuna
authors.affiliation: ALBA Synchrotron, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Catalonia 08290, Spain.
authors.forename: Jordi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Juanhuix
authors.affiliation: Institut Català de Nanociència i Nanotecnologia, ICN2, Campus UAB, Bellaterra, Catalonia 08193, Spain.
authors.forename: Inhar
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Imaz
authors.affiliation: 1] Institut Català de Nanociència i Nanotecnologia, ICN2, Campus UAB, Bellaterra, Catalonia 08193, Spain [2] Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ICREA), Pg. Lluís Companys 23, Barcelona, Catalonia 08010, Spain.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Maspoch
authors.affiliation: Institut de Química Computacional i Catàlisi and Departament de Química, Universitat de Girona, Campus Montilivi, Girona, Catalonia 17071, Spain.
authors.forename: Miquel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Costas
authors.affiliation: Institut de Química Computacional i Catàlisi and Departament de Química, Universitat de Girona, Campus Montilivi, Girona, Catalonia 17071, Spain.
authors.forename: Xavi
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Ribas