title: Sc2C2@D3h(14246)-C74: A Missing Piece of the Clusterfullerene Puzzle.
abstract: Clusterfullerenes with variable carbon cages have been extensively studied in recent years. However, despite all these efforts, C74cage-based clusterfullerene remains a missing piece of the puzzle. Herein, we show that single-crystal X-ray crystallographic analysis unambiguously assigns the previously reported dimetallofullerene Sc2@C76to a novel carbide clusterfullerene, Sc2C2@D3h(14246)-C74, the first experimentally proven clusterfullerene with a C74cage. In addition, Sc2C2@D3h(14246)-C74was charaterized by mass spectrometry, ultraviolet-visible-near-infrared absorption spectroscopy,45Sc nuclear magnetic resonance, and cyclic voltammetry. Comparative studies of the motion of the carbide cluster in Sc2C2@D3h(14246)-C74and Sc2C2@C2n(n = 40-44) revealed that a combination of factors, involving both the shape and size of the cage, is crucial in dictating the cluster motion. Moreover, structural studies of D3h(14246)-C74revealed that it can be easily converted to Cs(10528)-C72and Td(19151)-C76cages via C2desertion/insertion and Stone-Wales transformation. This suggests that D3h(14246)-C74might play an important role in the growth pathway of clusterfullerenes.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Advanced Optoelectronic Materials, College of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Soochow University , Suzhou, Jiangsu 215123, China.
authors.forename: Yaofeng
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Advanced Optoelectronic Materials, College of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Soochow University , Suzhou, Jiangsu 215123, China.
authors.forename: Qiangqiang
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.affiliation: College of Physics, Optoelectronics and Energy & Collaborative Innovation Center of Suzhou Nano Science and Technology, Soochow University , Suzhou, Jiangsu 215006, China.
authors.forename: Lai
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Advanced Optoelectronic Materials, College of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Soochow University , Suzhou, Jiangsu 215123, China.
authors.forename: Ning
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9405-6229
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Chen