Fullerenes electroreductive

Due to the higher reactivity of the C-C bonds at the poles of the C70 molecule that have the highest 7r-bond orders, they are exclusively involved in the above mentioned dimerizations-cycloadditions. Therefore, five [2+2] addition isomers of (C70)2 and two of the cross-dimers (C60)(C70) were formed that were finally resolved in the pure forms with the aid of recycling high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC). In all these all-carbon dimers (Scheme 3), the [2+2] connecting bonds can be easily cleaved under electroreductive conditions, suggesting that such kinds of dimeric materials can be used as prototypes in molecular switches based on fullerene architectures. 

The electroreduction of iV-(haloethyl)amides 8 at a mercury cathode in DMF or acetonitrile gives rise to the corresponding iV-(2,2-dichlorovinyl)amides 9 in good to excellent yields (equation 5)25. The electrochemical reduction of fluorinated fullerene has been reported26. 

It was in 1990 that Kratschmer et al. [217,218] reported the first macroscopic preparation of in gram quantities by contact-arc vaporization of a graphite rod in a 100 Torr atmosphere of helium, followed by extraction of the resultant soot with toluene. Fullerene ions could also be detected by mass spectrometry in low-pressure hydrocarbon flames [219]. The door was opened by, Kratschmer and co-workers preparative success to extensive studies of the electrochemical behavior of the new materials. Cyclic voltammetry of molecular solutions of Ceo in aprotic electrolytes, e.g., methylene chloride/quatemary ammonium salts, revealed the reversible cathodic formation of anionic species, the radical anion, the dianion, etc. (cf. [220,221]). Finally, an uptake of six electrons in the potential range of 1-3.3 V vs. SHE in MeCN/toluene at — 10°C to form the hexavalent anion was reported by Xie et al. [222]. This was in full accordance with MO calculations. A parametric study of the electroreduction of Cgo in aprotic solvents was performed [223]. No reversible oxidation of C o was possible, not even to the radical cation. However, the stability of di- and trications with special counterions, in the Li/PEO/C 3 MoFf cell, was claimed later [224]. 

Simple redox solutes, ferrocene, N, N, N, JV-tetramethyl-l,4-phenylenediam-ine, decamethylferrocene, bis(i-propylcyclopentadienyl) iron(ll), [Ru(phen)j] (0104)2, [Fe(bpy)3](0104)2, [Co(bpy)3](0104)2, and iodine have been studied at electrodes modified with polymeric fullerene films. FuUerene-modified electrodes were prepared by electropolymerization of Cjq initiated by traces of dioxygen or by simultaneous electroreduction of fullerene and Pd(ll) acetate trimer. For the former films, the electrochemical activity decreases upon potential cycling. The electrochemical activity of the film is stabihzed by the redox solute added to the electropolimerization stage due to the catalytic oxidation of the fullerene film by the oxidized form of the redox system. Similarly, positively charged species can also be incorporated into the structure of the film. The reversible behavior of redox solutes decreases with the increase in the thickness of the Pd/C q film. This film also incorporates ferricinium ion, N, N, N, N-tetramethyl-l,4-phenylenediamine cation, decamethylferricinium ion, and to a smaller degree [Co(bpy)3]"+ [53]. 

Electroreduction of unsaturated compomids such as 9-(dicyanomethylene)-fluorenes [8] and fullerenes (Ceo) [9] also generates radical anionic species and dianion, respectively, which also serve as EGB (Eqs. 14 and 15). 

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