Crippling the C70 fullerene: non-classical C68Cl26(OH)2 and C68Cl25(OH)3 with three heptagons and only fused pentagons via chlorination-promoted skeletal transformations.

Abstract

High-temperature (440 °C) chlorination of C70 with SbCl5 promotes Stone-Wales transformations and loss of the C2 fragment, which results in a non-classical C68Cl28 partially hydrolyzed to C68Cl26(OH)2 and C68Cl25(OH)3. X-ray diffraction reveals an unprecedented C68 cage with three heptagons and 15 pentagons arranged in fused pairs and triples. The shortest possible transformation pathways include one C2 loss step and four Stone-Wales transformation steps.