Alkyl fullerides

R = Bul e = H from Saccharin Scheme 7. Some electrophilic substitution reactions of alkyl fulleride anions. 

This review describes the preparation, characterization, and properties of all nonpolymeric complexes that contain a metal removed from the fullerene also are included. The article does not cover the essentially ionic fullerides MmC (4) or the endohedral metallofullerenes MmC (8), which have been reviewed previously. The extended fullerenes, or so-called carbon nanotubes, which have hollow centers and can be filled with metal salts, also are not discussed. The majority of complexes involve 7r-bonds and, apart from alkyl lithium fullerides, the potentially useful synthetic area of o- complexes has not been explored. Table I shows the occurrence of metal-bound adducts across the periodic table. 

Although fulleride lithium and Grignard adducts have often been used as synthetic intermediates, only 60( )( 1) has been isolated pure and fully characterized. Many alkyl lithium fullerides, such as... 

The fulleride anions generated by electrochemical reduction may be reacted with electrophiles, yielding functionalized fullerenes like, for instance, alkylated derivatives. 

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