The Stability of Buckminsterfullerene (C₆₀): Experimental Determination of the Heat of Formation

Abstract

The standard enthalpy of formation of crystalline buckminsterfullerene (C 60 ) is 544.99 ± 1.35 kcalmol −1 which corresponds to 9.08 ± 0.02 kcalmol −1 per C atom. This follows from the calorimetric determination of the heat of combustion of extremely pure C 60 . Of the several theoretically predicted heats of formation, the value calculated with the MM3 force field (Δ H (g) = 570 kcalmol −1 ) shows the best agreement with the experimental data.