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Sponge-like molecular cage for purification of fullerenes

Author

Listed:
  • Cristina García-Simón

    (Institut de Química Computacional i Catàlisi and Departament de Química, Universitat de Girona, Campus Montilivi)

  • Marc Garcia-Borràs

    (Institut de Química Computacional i Catàlisi and Departament de Química, Universitat de Girona, Campus Montilivi)

  • Laura Gómez

    (Institut de Química Computacional i Catàlisi and Departament de Química, Universitat de Girona, Campus Montilivi
    Serveis Tècnics de Recerca (STR), Universitat de Girona, Parc Cinetífic i Tecnològic)

  • Teodor Parella

    (Servei de RMN and Departament de Química, Facultat de Ciències, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Campus UAB)

  • Sílvia Osuna

    (Institut de Química Computacional i Catàlisi and Departament de Química, Universitat de Girona, Campus Montilivi)

  • Jordi Juanhuix

    (ALBA Synchrotron, Cerdanyola del Vallès)

  • Inhar Imaz

    (Institut Català de Nanociència i Nanotecnologia, ICN2, Campus UAB)

  • Daniel Maspoch

    (Institut Català de Nanociència i Nanotecnologia, ICN2, Campus UAB
    Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ICREA))

  • Miquel Costas

    (Institut de Química Computacional i Catàlisi and Departament de Química, Universitat de Girona, Campus Montilivi)

  • Xavi Ribas

    (Institut de Química Computacional i Catàlisi and Departament de Química, Universitat de Girona, Campus Montilivi)

Abstract

Since fullerenes are available in macroscopic quantities from fullerene soot, large efforts have been geared toward designing efficient strategies to obtain highly pure fullerenes, which can be subsequently applied in multiple research fields. Here we present a supramolecular nanocage synthesized by metal-directed self-assembly, which encapsulates fullerenes of different sizes. Direct experimental evidence is provided for the 1:1 encapsulation of C60, C70, C76, C78 and C84, and solid state structures for the host–guest adducts with C60 and C70 have been obtained using X-ray synchrotron radiation. Furthermore, we design a washing-based strategy to exclusively extract pure C60 from a solid sample of cage charged with a mixture of fullerenes. These results showcase an attractive methodology to selectively extract C60 from fullerene mixtures, providing a platform to design tuned cages for selective extraction of higher fullerenes. The solid-phase fullerene encapsulation and liberation represent a twist in host–guest chemistry for molecular nanocage structures.

Suggested Citation

  • Cristina García-Simón & Marc Garcia-Borràs & Laura Gómez & Teodor Parella & Sílvia Osuna & Jordi Juanhuix & Inhar Imaz & Daniel Maspoch & Miquel Costas & Xavi Ribas, 2014. "Sponge-like molecular cage for purification of fullerenes," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 5(1), pages 1-9, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:5:y:2014:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms6557
    DOI: 10.1038/ncomms6557
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