Fullerene oxidation/reduction

Some of the reactions between dimetalliranes and fullerenes/metal-fullerenes occur thermally, again depending upon the relationship between oxidation/reduction potential between the reactants <2002MI(12)324>, <2000JOM74>. 

One aspect that reflects the electronic configuration of fullerenes relates to the electrochemically induced reduction and oxidation processes in solution. In good agreement with the tlireefold degenerate LUMO, the redox chemistry of [60]fullerene, investigated primarily with cyclic voltammetry and Osteryoung square wave voltammetry, unravels six reversible, one-electron reduction steps with potentials that are equally separated from each other. The separation between any two successive reduction steps is -450 50 mV. The low reduction potential (only -0.44 V versus SCE) of the process, that corresponds to the generation of the rt-radical anion 131,109,110,111 and 1121, deserves special attention. 

In contrast to the relative ease of reduction, oxidation of fullerenes requires more severe conditions [113, 114]. Not only does the resonance stabilization raise the level of the corresponding oxidation potential (1.26 V versus Fc/Fc ), but also the reversibility of the underlying redox process is affected [115]. 

Parallel to the shift that the reduction of higher fullerenes shows, oxidation of the latter is also made easier... 

Reduction of fullerenes to fullerides — Reversible electrochemical reduction of Ceo in anhydrous dimethylformamide/toluene mixtures at low temperatures leads to the air-sensitive coloured anions Qo" , ( = 1-6). The successive mid-point reduction potentials, 1/2, at -60°C are -0.82, -1.26, -1.82, -2.33, —2.89 and —3.34 V, respectively. Liquid NH3 solutions can also be used. " Ceo is thus a very strong oxidizing agent, its first reduction potential being at least 1 V more positive than those of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. C70 can also be reversibly reduced and various ions up to... 

The synthesis of C60-based dyads in which the Ccm core is covalently attached to a strong electron acceptor moiety, has been carried out by 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of in situ generated nitrile oxides with C(,o- As expected, the obtained adducts show reduction waves of the fullerene core that are anodically shifted in comparison with the parent Cr>o. This indicates that they are remarkably stronger acceptors than Ceo-The electron acceptor organic addend also undergoes an anodic shift due to the electronic interaction with the C(,o moiety (545). 

Attaching a Ceo cluster to an [Ru(bpy)3] + core has been achieved by 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of azomethine ylides to the fullerene. The electrochemistry of the complex is complicated a one-electron reversible oxidation of the Ru center, five one-electron reversible reductions associated with the Ceo cage, and five more reversible reductions centered on the bpy ligands. The photophysical properties of the complex have been discussed. ... 

The removal of the radical electron corresponds to the first oxidation process. The resulting cation should be diamagnetic. The first reduction is relatively easy, because filling of the HOMO leads to the closed shell species La Cg2T Theoretical calculations predicted that the location of the lanthanum within the cage is off-center, which allows a stronger interaction with carbon atoms of the fullerene sphere [81- 3]. 

Oxidation of the hydroxyl group in 186 with pyridinium chlorochromate (PCC) in CH2CI2 affords the aldehyde 197. The reduction of 197 back to 186 is possible in EtOH in the presence of TiCl4, whereas upon treatment of 197 with diisobutyl-aluminium hydride a competitive reaction with the fullerene core was observed. 

Electric fleld gradient, 22 214-218 Electroabsorption spectroscopy, 41 279 class II mixed-valence complexes, 41 289, 291, 294-297 [j(jl-pyz)]=+, 41 294, 296 Electrocatalytic reduction, nickel(n) macro-cyclic complexes, 44 119-121 Electrochemical interconversions, heteronuclear gold cluster compounds, 39 338-339 Electrochemical oxidation, of iron triazenide complexes, 30 21 Electrochemical properties fullerene adducts, 44 19-21, 33-34 nickeljll) macrocyclic complexes, 44 112-113... 

The electrochemical properties of TNT-EMFs, M3N C2n n > 39) differ from those of the empty cage fullerenes (see Fig. 6) due to the interaction of the metal cluster with the carbon cage and because the structure of these carbon cages are generally different. As a consequence, the reductive processes are electrochemically irreversible but chemically reversible. The oxidative processes occur at lower potentials because the HOMO orbital is mainly localized on the trimetallic nitride clusters and the HOMO-LUMO gaps in solution are smaller [25,58]. The endohedral metallo-fullerenes M C2n show similar behavior but even smaller HOMO-LUMO gaps [59]. 

The highly hydrogenated derivative, C60H36 displays only one reversible reduction in THF, which appears to involve two electrons [87]. Reductions are observed at —3.24 and —3.18 V vs. Fc/Fc+ when the voltammetry is conducted at +14 and — 38°C respectively. These highly negative potentials approach the value for the reduction of benzene (see Table 10), and support the notion that as fullerene double bonds become saturated, reduction becomes more difficult. No oxidation was obtained in THF, but the compound oxidizes irreversibly in DCM and MeCN at +1.22 and +1.25 V vs. Fc/Fc+ at —47 and —28 °C respectively. 

Several fullerene-oKgophenyleneviny-lene (OPV) hybrids such as (23) have been prepared. Comparison of the reduction potentials of (23) with those of Ceo shows a shift to more negative values by 100 mV. In contrast, a slightly positive shift was observed for the OPV-based oxidation of (23) by about 40 mV with respect to the corresponding model compound, (24). The shifts appear to be a consequence of a small electronic interaction between the... 

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