Abstract
Endohedral metallofullerenes (EMFs) encapsulating divalent metal ions have rarely been studied because of their low production yields. We report here for the first time the chemical understanding of two typical divalent EMFs, i.e. Yb@D3h-C74 and Yb@C2(13)-C84 with a disilirane reagent (1), which has shown great success in probing the chemical reactivity of EMFs encapsulating a variety of metallic cores. It was surprising to find that Yb@D3h(1)-C74 reacted with 1 neither thermally nor photochemically under normal conditions, showing an unusually low reactivity. However, monoadduct formation was achieved by laser-irradiation of their mixtures during the mass spectroscopic measurement. Accordingly, the thermal and photochemical reactions of Yb@C2(13)-C84 with 1 were conducted under harsher conditions and monoadduct formation was confirmed by both chromatographic and mass spectroscopic studies. The relatively low reactivity of these divalent EMFs compared with that of the corresponding trivalent analogues is attributed to their more negative first reduction potentials, as well as their close-shell electronic configurations, presenting new insights into the templating effect of the internal metal ion on the chemical properties of the cage carbons of EMFs.
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.