Effect of Incarcerated HF on the Exohedral Chemical Reactivity of HF@C60

Abstract

The first chemical modification on the brand new endohedral HF@C60 is reported. In particular, the isomerization from optically pure (2S,5S)-cis-pyrrolidino[3,4:1,2][60]fullerene 2b to (2S,5R)-trans-pyrrolidino[3,4:1,2][60]fullerene 2b has been studied and compared with empty C60 (2a) and endohedral H2O@C60 (3). The comparative study shows a kinetic order for the isomerization process of H2O@C60 ˃ HF@C60 ˃ C60, thus confirming the effect of the incarcerated species on the zwitterionic intermediate stability.