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How can halogen atoms attached to C60 be replaced by other chemical groups?
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fullerene
Two fullerene structures: an elongated carbon nanotube and a spherical buckminsterfullerene, or “buckyball.”
In the chemistry of fullerenes, the C60 molecule readily reacts to add halogen atoms to its cage structure. These attached halogen atoms can subsequently be replaced by other chemical groups through substitution reactions.
For example, halogen atoms on the C60 cage can be replaced by phenyl groups—a ring-shaped hydrocarbon derived from benzene. This process is significant because it provides a pathway to synthesize a wide variety of novel fullerene derivatives, some of which demonstrate advanced materials behavior.1