Trapping an unprecedented Ti₃C₃ unit inside the icosahedral C₈₀ fullerene: a crystallographic survey.

ABSTRACT: The sub-nanometer cavity of fullerene cages is an ideal platform to accommodate otherwise unstable species for accurate structural characterization with, for example, rather accurate single crystal X-ray diffraction (XRD) crystallography. Herein, we report the successful entrapment of an isolated Ti₃C₃ moiety inside the icosahedral-C₈₀ cage to form Ti₃C₃@I_h-C₈₀ via an arc-evaporation process in the gas phase. The single crystal XRD crystallographic results unambiguously reveal that the C₃-unit adopts an unprecedented cyclopropane-like structure which coordinates with the three titanium atoms in an unexpected fashion where the triangular C₃-unit is nearly perpendicular to the Ti_3</

SUBMITTER: Yu P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7066662 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature