Tandem mass spectrometry studies of metallofullerenes
- Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC (United States)
As interest in the chemistry of fullerenes grows, many laboratories are now directing their efforts toward the synthesis of fullerene derivatives such as metallofullerenes (endohedral complexes). Tandem mass spectrometry has proven useful in the characterization of such derivatives. In tandem mass spectrometry, ions of interest are selected with one mass analyzer, collided or reacted with a gas, and the products of the reaction are subsequently analyzed with an additional stage of mass analysis. The authors have used low- and high-energy collisions with reactive and inert target gas molecules to probe the structures, properties and reactivities of endohedral metallofullerene complexes. These studies have shown that metallofullerenes have properties similar to those of fullerenes, including the ability to take up He during keV collisions, forming complexes such as La{sub 2}He@C{sub 80} These studies indicate that the metal is not on the outside of the cage, although the formation of La{sub 2}He@C{sub 80} suggests that one of the metal atoms may be incorporated as part of the cage. Fragmentation processes in the metallofullerenes are similar to those of the fullerenes (e.g. successive C{sub 2} loss), lending further support for the proposed endohedral structure of the fullerenes. The behavior of the metallofullerenes in reactive collisions with oxygen has also been studied, indicating that their reactivities are similar to those of the fullerenes. Fourier transform spectroscopy studies are currently underway to further probe the reactivities, ionization energies and gas phase proton affinities of the metallofullerenes.
- OSTI ID:
- 141502
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-930304--
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Production and characterization of metallofullerenes
Automated HPLC separation of endohedral metallofullerene ScC{sub 2n} and YC{sub 2n} fractions