Transition Metal Chelate-Fulleride Compounds: Electrocrystallization ofSemiconducting (Ru(bpy)3)(C60)2

摘要

Two recent breakthroughs in the chemistry of fullerenes have provided the impetusfor using fullerenes to prepare novel solid state materials: a method to produce large amounts of C60 and related materials, and the discovery of superconductivity in fullerides of K, Rb and Cs. The superconducting alkali metal compounds, which appear to contain C60(3-), show a trend toward higher transition temperatures upon increasing the size of the unit cell up to the composition Rb2CsC60. We thought that the synthesis of new compounds of reduced fullerenes with large cations might produce materials with interesting properties. Transition metal complexes with neutral chelating ligands (e.g. Ru(bpy)3(2+), where bpy = 2,2' bipyridine) seemed like good candidates as cations for C60 salts. Such complex cation have a rich electrochemistry and photochemistry. Furthermore, the electronic and optical properties can be varied via ligand and metal substitution, providing a route for tuning the properties of the new materials.