Fuller, R, Buckminster

Fuller, R. Buckminster. 1970. Commitment to Humanity. Humanist 30 (May/ June) 28-33. 

The C50 molecule contains 12 pentagons and 20 hexagons. This type of hexagonal-pentagonal structure closely resembles the geodesic domes developed by the architect and engineer R. Buckminster Fuller, after whom the molecule is named. In the Csn molecule each carbon atom is bonded to three... 

R. Buckminster Fuller. In The Artifacts of R. Buckminster Fuller A Comprehensive Collection of His Designs and Drawings, edited by W. Marlin, Garland Publishing, New York, 1984. 

Buckminsterfullerene (Chapter 11, essay, Carbon Clusters, Fullerenes, and Nanotubes ) Name given to the Cgo cluster with structure resembling the geodesic domes of R. Buckminster Fuller see front cover. 

Mcllalc.J. (1962). R. Buckminster Fuller. New York George Brazillier, Inc. 

If you re a sports fan, you ve almost certainly seen this structure before. It is that of a soccer ball with a carbon atom at each vertex. Smalley and his colleagues could have named this allotropic form of carbon "carbosoccer" or "soc-cerene," but they didn t. Instead they called it "buckminster fullerene" after the architect R. Buckminster Fuller, whose geodesic domes vaguely resembled truncated soccer balls. 

Chemists were greatly surprised when soccer-ball-shaped carbon molecules were first identified in 1985, particularly because they might be even more abundant than graphite and diamond The C60 molecule (10) is named buckminsterfullerene after the American architect R. Buckminster Fuller, whose geodesic domes it resembles. Within 2 years, scientists had succeeded in making crystals of buckminsterfullerene the solid samples are called fullerite (Fig. 14.32). The discovery of this molecule and others with similar structures, such as C70, opened up the prospect of a whole new field of chemistry. For instance, the interior of a C60 molecule is big enough to hold an atom of another element, and chemists are now busily preparing a whole new periodic table of these shrink-wrapped atoms. 

Figure 4.19C shows Ceo, which is one type of fullerene discovered in 1985. It was given the name buckminsterfullerene because it resembles the geodesic-domed structure designed by architect R. Buckminster Fuller. Also known as buckyballs, Ceo is just one of several fullerenes that have been discovered. Others have been shown to have the formula C70, C74, and C82. Because of their spherical shape, researchers have speculated that fullerenes might make good lubricants. 

What is the symmetry of buckminsterfullerene934 Do you expect it to be chiral To have a dipole moment To be soluble in benzene Buckminsterfullerene was named after R. Buckminster Fuller, who became best known for his popularization of the geodesic dome Is a geodesic dome the same as a segment of buckminsterfullerene What is the symmetry of the bis(4-r-butyIpyridine)osmyl derivative of buckminsterfullerene (Fig. 3.34) Do you expect it to be chiral To have a dipole moment To be soluble in benzene ... 

---