Recent Advances in the Covalent Functionalization of Carbon Nanotubes

Abstract

Applications of carbon nanotubes in different fields, ranging from nanomedicine to photophysics, have emerged since the discovery of this new carbon structure. Functionalization of the nanotubes enhances solubility, facilitates handling as well as provides a way to introduce new molecular entities that will generate interesting properties. This review focuses on the covalent modification of the surface of nanotubes by means of 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of azomethine ylides and some recent examples will illustrate the applications of the final products.

Keywords:

• carbon nanotubes
• covalent functionalization
• 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition
• nanomedicine

Acknowledgments

The work described in this article has been supported by the University of Trieste, INSTM and MUR (PRIN 2006, prot. 2006034372 and Firb RBIN04HC3S). We are grateful to all our collaborators, whose names are listed in the references, who have allowed us to reach the results described here.