Fusing Pentagons in a Fullerene Cage by Chlorination: IPRD₂-C₇₆Rearranges into non-IPR C₇₆Cl₂₄

As is well known, fullerenes obtained by conventional arcdischarge synthesis obey the isolated pentagon rule (IPR). Unless fullerene molecules are directly subjected to “fullerene surgery”, exohedral functionalization does not affect the connectivity of their carbon networks. Non-IPR fullerene isomers have been available through appropriate modifications of the arc-discharge methodology to synthesize an already chemically derivatized molecule in which the derivatization stabilizes the pentagon–pentagon junctions. In particular, non-IPR cages are quite common in endohedral metallofullerenes, as encapsulated metal atoms are likely to stabilize the fused pentagon fragments by charge-transfer binding to them. More recently, a number of unconventional exohedral fullerene derivatives, including C50Cl10, [5, 6] C56Cl10, [7] C66H4, [8] C68Cl4, [6] and non-IPR C60Cl8 and C60Cl12, [9] have been obtained by means of an arc-discharge process in presence of additives such as CCl4, Cl2, and CH4. Rare examples of more classical chemical approaches to nonIPR fullerenes are indirectly confirmed transformation of dodecahedrane into C20 [10] and synthesis of a C62 derivative with four-membered cycle in its carbon cage from C60. [11]