A glimpse into the fascinating world of fullerenes

Abstract

Fullerenes, carbon nanotubes and onions have caught the imagination of the entire scientific community. The interest seems to be growing unabated; about two papers per day are being published today. This article sketches the fascinating area of this new allotrope of carbon, maybe the only allotrope of any element discovered in 20th century, focusing primarily on C₆₀. The early history, synthesis and characterization, mass spectrometry, derivatization, orientational ordering, pressure effects, superconductivity, magnetism and photophysical properties of fullerenes and fullerene-based compounds will be discussed. The science of buckminsterfullerene; and fullerenes in general, is still dominated by spectroscopy and chemical physics. Although many applications were proposed in the early days of fullerenes, many of them turned out to be disappointments. However, potential uses of fullerene-based materials in photophysical, biological and chemical applications are increasingly recognized.