Computational studies on siblings en-route to fullerenes: study of curved polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

Abstract

Computational studies at ab initio, DFT and semiempirical levels were carried out on a large number of buckybowl molecules. Corannulene 2 and Sumanene 3 constitute the primary buckybowls as they are readily identifiable C₆₀ fragments along the C₅ and C₃ axes, respectively. These studies are directed at understanding the most elegant strategy to modulate the curvature of buckybowl molecules. The importance of choosing the right precursor for the successful synthesis of the target buckybowl molecules were highlighted. The effect of sequential ring annelation to the rim of buckybowl on their structures, curvature and inversion dynamics were studied. The energy profiles of the substituted buckybowls were fit to a double-well potential, which results in an empirical correlation between the bowl-to-bowl inversion and the bowl depths. The effect of metal ion binding to the concave and convex surfaces of the bowl structure and the inversion dynamics was also studied.