Fulleranes produced via efficient polyamine hydrogenations of [60]fullerene, [70]fullerene and giant fullerenes

Abstract

All fullerenes including [60]fullerene, [70]fullerene and giant fullerenes are hydrogenated in excellent yield using polyamines like diethylenetriamine (DET), triethylenetetramine (TET), tetraethylenepentamine (TEP) or pentaethylenehexamine (PEH) at elevated temperatures. The resulting hydrogenated fullerenes or fulleranes have been characterized by a combination of NMR spectroscopy and mass spectrometry. The addition of elemental cobalt promotes formation of more highly hydrogenated fulleranes. Hydrogenation reaction times can be reduced to minutes using a microwave reactor. The mechanism of polyamine hydrogenation is discussed in terms of successive electron transfer–protonation cycles as evidenced by deuterium labeling studies.