Abstract
Fast kinetics of fullerene sulfation reaction was observed in H2SO4–SO3 (28–30%) in the presence of metal oxides, such as V2O5 and, to a lesser extent, SeO2, showing nearly spontaneous production of hexacyclosulfated C60. Detection of dodecahydroxylated C60 in the reaction products revealed formation of hexacyclosulfated C60 even at an early stage of reaction. Partially sulfated C60 molecules exhibit a higher reactivity toward further sulfation than the parent fullerene molecules. A much faster sulfation rate of C60 in comparison with that of C70 under similar reaction conditions allows one to produce relatively pure dodecahydroxy[60]fullerene from a mixture of C60 and C70.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
This work was supported by the National Science Council of Taiwan (NSC 89-2113-M002-022). The authors thank Mr. S. J. Wang of Instrumentation Center of National Tsing Hwa University, Taiwan for the LSIMS/FAB measurements.