The document discusses fullerenes, which are hollow carbon structures made of pentagons and hexagons. It provides a brief history of their discovery in 1985 and describes their structure as spheres like soccer balls made of 12 pentagons and various hexagons. The most famous fullerene is buckminsterfullerene (C60), which contains 60 carbon atoms arranged in 20 hexagons and 12 pentagons. The document outlines the hybridization, bonding, and geometry of C60 and other fullerenes. It concludes by discussing some applications of fullerenes in areas like antioxidants, drug delivery, solar cells, and more.

1. OMPRAKASH PATEL
M.Sc. CHEMISTRY(III-SEM.)
Dr. CHANDA VERMA

2.  INTRODUCTION
 A BRIEF HISTORY OF FULLERENE
 STRUCTURE AND BONDING
 GEOMETRY OF FULLERENE
 APPLICATION
 CONCLUSION
 REFERENCES

3.  Fullerenes belong to the carbon family and it
is the third allotrope of carbon after graphite
and diamond.
Fullerenes are closed hollow cage structure
consisting of carbon atoms interconnected in
pentagonal and hexagonal rings.
A fullerene is a pure carbon molecule and C20
being the smallest fullerene.
The most famous fullerene is C60 also known
as Bucky ball.

4. Until the mid-1980s, only two allotropic
forms were known, diamond and graphite.
But in September 1985 British chemist Sir
Harold W. Kroto and the colleagues Richard E.
Smalley and Robert F. Curl, Jr., discovered
fullerene by using pulsed laser to vaporize
graphite rods in an atmosphere of helium gas.
The structure of fullerene was suggested to be
like a soccer ball: a spherical shape that can
be made using 12 pentagons and 20 hexagons.

5. C60 was named
buckminsterfullerene in
honour of Buckminster
Fuller. The shortened name
'fullerene‘ is used to refer
to the family of fullerenes.
In 1996 Curl, Kroto and
Smalley was awarded the
Nobel Prize in chemistry to
for their discovery of
fullerenes.

6. It contains 12 pentagons are surrounded by 20
hexagons.
60 vertices for the carbon atoms and 90
covalent bonds between them, 60 single bonds
and 30 double bonds.
Each carbon is part of one pentagon and two
hexagons, each has two single bonds and one
double bond for the traditional carbon valence
of four.

7. The fullerene hybridization is not fixed but has
variable characteristics depending on the
number of carbon atoms in the molecule.
The pentagonal rings contain only single bonds;
double bonds have a shorter bond length and
lead to instability in the pentagonal ring.
Two types of bond lengths:
(I) 0.145 +/-0.0015 nm for the bonds between
five- and six-membered rings,
(II) 0.140 +/- 0.0015 nm for the bond between
the six-membered rings.

9. The geometry of C60 is icosahedron with sixty
vertices, one carbon at each.
There are 32 faces, 12 of which are pentagons
(12 pentagons × 5 carbons = 60 carbons) and 20
which are hexagons (20 hexagons × 6 = 120,
120/2= 60 carbons) we must divide by two
because each carbon atom is shared by two
hexagons in C60.
Each pentagon is surrounded by five hexagons.
No two pentagons are adjacent.

10. Fullerene must have 12 five-membered faces but
the no. of six-membered faces can vary widely.
The structure of C60 has 20 hexagonal faces; C70
has 25.
Each carbon of a fullerene is sp2-hybridised and
forms sigma bonds to three other carbon atoms.
Fullerenes are aromatic and highly stable.

11. The Fullerene family is ever growing and new added
in very large number. The other important parent
fullerene is carbon-70 which co-exist with C60. it has
elliptical shape like rugby ball. It is reddish brown
solid whose thicker films are greenish black and it
gives wine-red coloured solution in benzene. The
other family members are “Bucky babies” include
C32, C44, C50 and C58 and the “giant fullerenes” include
C240, C540 and C960. These giant size fullerene
structures have been predicted on the basis of
computer simulation of nucleation process model.

12. As antioxidants
Antimicrobial-agents
Drug delivery
In solar cells
In strengthening/hardening of metals
As molecular wires
In water purification and biohazard
protection
As catalyst
As sensors.

13. Thus this study gives the basic knowledge of
structure of fullerenes and their applications.
Fullerenes, have become important molecules
in science and technology. Due to their very
practical properties, fullerenes are a key topic
on nanotechnology and industrial research
nowadays. Fullerenes are used in today’s
industry already, mostly in and in drug industry
and in cosmetics, where they play an
important role as antioxidants.

14.  BOOK REFERRED-
 ADVANCED ORGANIC CHEMISTRY
BY DR. Jagdamba Singh & Dr. L.D.S.
Yadav,
Pragati prakashan, Thirteenth Edition
2016, Page no. 63-65. INTERNET WEB ADDRESS-
https://www.britannica.com/science/fuller
ene
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fullerene