New Studies in Fullerene Chemistry

Studies on fullerene chemistry carried out in the Laboratory of Organometallic Stereochemistry at INEOS, Moscow, are briefly reported. These include work with platinum metals complexes, in particular, on novel methods of preparing η²if fullerene (C₆₀ and C₇₀) complexes of platinum, palladium, rhodium and iridium. A new approach is the use of mercury-platinum bimetallic compounds, R-Hg-PtL₂-X, as a source of the PtL₂ moiety to be transferred onto a (6:6) double bond in fullerenes. Bis(aryl)platinum(II) complexes can react similarly. Other products of this reaction are discussed. The first optically active organometallic fullerenes of the type C_nM(+)DIOP, where n = 60 or 70, have also been prepared and the circular dichroism spectra investigated. In addition, the molecular structures for C₆₀Pd(PPh₃): and C₆₀Pt(+)DIOP have been solved. Higher catalytic activity for the hydrogenation of a triple to a double bond has been observed with C₆₀Pd(PPh₃); adsorbed on porous carbon than with palladium/porous carbon.