(Invited) Chemical Purification of M3N Clusters in the Larger C88-C102 Cage

Abstract

Since the discovery of Sc3N@C80 in 1999, much literature has focused on isolating metallic nitride clusters (M3N) entrapped within the smaller C80 cage. Over time, scientists (e.g., Echegoyen) have explored the same M3N clusters, but with bigger cage sizes, to expand the family of M3N@C2n. While HPLC has been the dominant method to isolate the larger M3N@C88-112, our research group is investigating non-chromatographic methods to purify M3N@C88-112 with the goal of disseminating these larger species to the scientific community. In this presentation, we demonstrate selective reactions of metallic nitride endohedrals present in soot extracts. Successful reagents include electron-poor Lewis acids and electron-rich amines. Combining these two reaction classes now permits the chemical purification of mixed-metal CeLu2N@C80 as an example of a C80 cage. Our most recent example of chemically isolating a metallic nitride in a larger cage is Gd3N@C88. Currently, we are spreading this purification method to transition metal and other rare-earth M3N clusterfullerenes.