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    Single-Electron Lanthanide-Lanthanide Bonds Inside Fullerenes toward Robust Redox-Active Molecular Magnets
    (Washington, DC : ACS Publications, 2019) Liu, Fupin; Spree, Lukas; Krylov, Denis S.; Velkos, Georgios; Avdoshenko, Stanislav M.; Popov, Alexey A.
    A characteristic phenomenon of lanthanide-fullerene interactions is the transfer of metal valence electrons to the carbon cage. With early lanthanides such as La, a complete transfer of six valence electrons takes place for the metal dimers encapsulated in the fullerene cage. However, the low energy of the σ-type Ln-Ln bonding orbital in the second half of the lanthanide row limits the Ln2 → fullerene transfer to only five electrons. One electron remains in the Ln-Ln bonding orbital, whereas the fullerene cage with a formal charge of -5 is left electron-deficient. Such Ln2@C80 molecules are unstable in the neutral form but can be stabilized by substitution of one carbon atom by nitrogen to give azafullerenes Ln2@C79N or by quenching the unpaired electron on the fullerene cage by reacting it with a chemical such as benzyl bromide, transforming one sp2 carbon into an sp3 carbon and yielding the monoadduct Ln2@C80(CH2Ph). Because of the presence of the Ln-Ln bonding molecular orbital with one electron, the Ln2@C79N and Ln2@C80(R) molecules feature a unique single-electron Ln-Ln bond and an unconventional +2.5 oxidation state of the lanthanides.In this Account, which brings together metallofullerenes, molecular magnets, and lanthanides in unconventional valence states, we review the progress in the studies of dimetallofullerenes with single-electron Ln-Ln bonds and highlight the consequences of the unpaired electron residing in the Ln-Ln bonding orbital for the magnetic interactions between Ln ions. Usually, Ln···Ln exchange coupling in polynuclear lanthanide compounds is weak because of the core nature of 4f electrons. However, when interactions between Ln centers are mediated by a radical bridge, stronger coupling may be achieved because of the diffuse nature of radical-based orbitals. Ultimately, when the role of a radical bridge is played by a single unpaired electron in the Ln-Ln bonding orbital, the strength of the exchange coupling is increased dramatically. Giant exchange coupling in endohedral Ln2 dimers is combined with a rather strong axial ligand field exerted on the lanthanide ions by the fullerene cage and the excess electron density localized between two Ln ions. As a result, Ln2@C79N and Ln2@C80(CH2Ph) compounds exhibit slow relaxation of magnetization and exceptionally high blocking temperatures for Ln = Dy and Tb. At low temperatures, the [Ln3+-e-Ln3+] fragment behaves as a single giant spin. Furthermore, the Ln-Ln bonding orbital in dimetallofullerenes is redox-active, which allows its population to be changed by electrochemical reactions, thus changing the magnetic properties because the change in the number of electrons residing in the Ln-Ln orbital affects the magnetic structure of the molecule. © 2019 American Chemical Society.
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    Fulleretic well-defined scaffolds: Donor–fullerene alignment through metal coordination and its effect on photophysics
    (Hoboken, NJ : Wiley, 2016) Williams, Derek E.; Dolgopolova, Ekaterina A.; Godfrey, Danielle C.; Ermolaeva, Evgeniya D.; Pellechia, Perry J.; Greytak, Andrew B.; Smith, Mark D.; Avdoshenko, Stanislav M.; Popov, Alexey A.; Shustova, Natalia B.
    Herein, we report the first example of a crystalline metal–donor–fullerene framework, in which control of the donor–fullerene mutual orientation was achieved through chemical bond formation, in particular, by metal coordination. The 13C cross‐polarization magic‐angle spinning NMR spectroscopy, X‐ray diffraction, and time‐resolved fluorescence spectroscopy were performed for comprehensive structural analysis and energy‐transfer (ET) studies of the fulleretic donor–acceptor scaffold. Furthermore, in combination with photoluminescence measurements, the theoretical calculations of the spectral overlap function, Förster radius, excitation energies, and band structure were employed to elucidate the photophysical and ET processes in the prepared fulleretic material. We envision that the well‐defined fulleretic donor–acceptor materials could contribute not only to the basic science of fullerene chemistry but would also be used towards effective development of organic photovoltaics and molecular electronics.
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    High Blocking Temperature of Magnetization and Giant Coercivity in the Azafullerene Tb 2 @C 79 N with a Single-Electron Terbium–Terbium Bond
    (Weinheim : Wiley-VCH, 2019) Velkos, Georgios; Krylov, Denis S.; Kirkpatrick, Kyle; Spree, Lukas; Dubrovin, Vasilii; Büchner, Bernd; Avdoshenko, Stanislav M.; Bezmelnitsyn, Valeriy; Davis, Sean; Faust, Paul; Duchamp, James; Dorn, Harry C.; Popov, Alexey A.
    The azafullerene Tb 2 @C 79 N is found to be a single-molecule magnet with a high 100-s blocking temperature of magnetization of 24 K and large coercivity. Tb magnetic moments with an easy-axis single-ion magnetic anisotropy are strongly coupled by the unpaired spin of the single-electron Tb−Tb bond. Relaxation of magnetization in Tb 2 @C 79 N below 15 K proceeds via quantum tunneling of magnetization with the characteristic time τ QTM =16 462±1230 s. At higher temperature, relaxation follows the Orbach mechanism with a barrier of 757±4 K, corresponding to the excited states, in which one of the Tb spins is flipped. © 2019 The Authors. Published by Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA.
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    Mononuclear clusterfullerene single‐molecule magnet containing strained fused‐pentagons stabilized by a nearly linear metal cyanide cluster
    (Hoboken, NJ : Wiley, 2017) Liu, Fupin; Wang, Song; Gao, Cong-Li; Deng, Qingming; Zhu, Xianjun; Kostanyan, Aram; Westerstrçm, Rasmus; Jin, Fei; Xie, Su‐Yuan; Popov, Alexey A.; Greber, Thomas; Yang, Shangfeng
    Fused‐pentagons results in an increase of local steric strain according to the isolated pentagon rule (IPR), and for all reported non‐IPR clusterfullerenes multiple (two or three) metals are required to stabilize the strained fused‐pentagons, making it difficult to access the single‐atom properties. Herein, we report the syntheses and isolations of novel non‐IPR mononuclear clusterfullerenes MNC@C76 (M=Tb, Y), in which one pair of strained fused‐pentagon is stabilized by a mononuclear cluster. The molecular structures of MNC@C76 (M=Tb, Y) were determined unambiguously by single‐crystal X‐ray diffraction, featuring a non‐IPR C2v(19138)‐C76 cage entrapping a nearly linear MNC cluster, which is remarkably different from the triangular MNC cluster within the reported analogous clusterfullerenes based on IPR‐obeying C82 cages. The TbNC@C76 molecule is found to be a field‐induced single‐molecule magnet (SMM).
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    Methane as a selectivity booster in the arc-discharge synthesis of endohedral fullerenes: Selective synthesis of the single-molecule magnet Dy2TiC@C80and Its Congener Dy2TiC2@C80
    (Hoboken, NJ : Wiley, 2015) Junghans, Katrin; Schlesier, Christin; Kostanyan, Aram; Samoylova, Nataliya A.; Deng, Qingming; Rosenkranz, Marco; Schiemenz, Sandra; Westerström, Rasmus; Greber, Thomas; Büchner, Bernd; Greber, Thomas; Popov, Alexey A.
    The use of methane as a reactive gas dramatically increases the selectivity of the arc‐discharge synthesis of M‐Ti‐carbide clusterfullerenes (M=Y, Nd, Gd, Dy, Er, Lu). Optimization of the process parameters allows the synthesis of Dy2TiC@C80‐I and its facile isolation in a single chromatographic step. A new type of cluster with an endohedral acetylide unit, M2TiC2@C80, is discovered along with the second isomer of M2TiC@C80. Dy2TiC@C80‐(I,II) and Dy2TiC2@C80‐I are shown to be single‐molecule magnets (SMM), but the presence of the second carbon atom in the cluster Dy2TiC2@C80 leads to substantially poorer SMM properties.
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    Sc3CH@C80: selective 13C enrichment of the central carbon atom
    (Cambridge : Royal Society of Chemistry, 2016) Junghans, Katrin; Rosenkranz, Marco; Popov, Alexey A.
    Sc3CH@C80 is synthesized and characterized by 1H, 13C, and 45Sc NMR. A large negative chemical shift of the proton, -11.73 ppm in the Ih and -8.79 ppm in the D5h C80 cage isomers, is found. 13C satellites in the 1H NMR spectrum enabled indirect determination of the 13C chemical shift for the central carbon at 173 ± 1 ppm. Intensity of the satellites allowed determination of the 13C content for the central carbon atom. This unique possibility is applied to analyze the cluster/cage 13C distribution in mechanistic studies employing either 13CH4 or 13C powder to enrich Sc3CH@C80 with 13C.
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    Wave-shaped polycyclic hydrocarbons with controlled aromaticity
    (Cambridge : RSC, 2019) Ma, Ji; Zhang, Ke; Schellhammer, Karl Sebastian; Fu, Yubin; Komber, Hartmut; Xu, Chi; Popov, Alexey A.; Hennersdorf, Felix; Weigand, Jan J.; Zhou, Shengqiang; Pisula, Wojciech; Ortmann, Frank; Berger, Reinhard; Liu, Junzhi; Feng, Xinliang
    Controlling the aromaticity and electronic properties of curved π-conjugated systems has been increasingly attractive for the development of novel functional materials for organic electronics. Herein, we demonstrate an efficient synthesis of two novel wave-shaped polycyclic hydrocarbons (PHs) 1 and 2 with 64 π-electrons. Among them, the wave-shaped π-conjugated carbon skeleton of 2 is unambiguously revealed by single-crystal X-ray crystallography analysis. The wave-shaped geometry is induced by steric congestion in the cove and fjord regions. Remarkably, the aromaticity of these two structural isomers can be tailored by the annulated direction of cyclopenta[b]fluorene units. Isomer 1 (Eoptg = 1.13 eV) behaves as a closed-shell compound with weakly antiaromatic feature, whereas its structural isomer 2 displays a highly stable tetraradical character (y0 = 0.23; y1 = 0.22; t1/2 = 91 days) with a narrow optical energy gap of 0.96 eV. Moreover, the curved PH 2 exhibits remarkable ambipolar charge transport in solution-processed organic thin-film transistors. Our research provides a new insight into the design and synthesis of stable functional curved aromatics with multiradical characters. © The Royal Society of Chemistry.
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    A crystalline anionic complex of scandium nitride endometallofullerene: Experimental observation of single-bonded (Sc3N@Ih-C80−)2 dimers
    (Cambridge : Royal Society of Chemistry, 2016) Konarev, Dmitri V.; Zorina, Leokadiya V.; Khasanov, Salavat S.; Popov, Alexey A.; Otsuka, Akihiro; Yamochi, Hideki; Saito, Gunzi; Lyubovskaya, Rimma N.
    Reduction of scandium nitride clusterfullerene, Sc3N@Ih-C80, by sodium fluorenone ketyl in the presence of cryptand[2,2,2] allows the crystallization of the {cryptand[2,2,2](Na+)}2(Sc3N@Ih-C80−)2·2.5C6H4Cl2 (1) salt. The Sc3N@Ih-C80˙− radical anions are dimerized to form single-bonded (Sc3N@Ih-C80−)2 dimers.
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    Perfluoroalkylfullerenes
    (Washington, DC : ACS Publ., 2015) Boltalina, Olga V.; Popov, Alexey A.; Kuvychko, Igor V.; Shustova, Natalia B.; Strauss, Steven H.
    New chemical derivatives that possess the greatest variety of addition patterns than any other class of fullerene derivatives represent an important addition to the existing classes of perfluorocarbons, that is, compounds that are composed only of the two types of atoms, carbon and fluorine. These include aromatic and aliphatic perfluorocarbons such as perfluorodecalin, perfluorononane, hexafluorobenzene, etc., which are important as fluorous solvents used in medicine. The propensity of perfluoroalkylfullerenes (PFAFs) to readily crystallize from organic solutions upon slow evaporation in open air provided a straightforward access to their molecular structures via X-ray crystallography. Another crucial aspect that ensures future success in the characterization of numerous PFAFs of higher fullerenes and endohedral metallofullerenes is the possibility to apply HPLC methodologies to the separation of product mixtures. PFAFs, especially those of C60 and C70, are unique fullerene derivatives in terms of the number of structurally characterized derivatives with different number of RF groups and different addition patterns.
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    A faux hawk fullerene with PCBM-like properties
    (Cambridge : Royal Society of Chemistry, 2014) San, Long K.; Bukovsky, Eric V.; Larson, Bryon W.; Whitaker, James B.; Deng, S.H.M.; Kopidakis, Nikos; Rumbles, Garry; Popov, Alexey A.; Chen, Yu-Sheng; Wang, Xue-Bin; Boltalina, Olga V.; Strauss, Steven H.
    Reaction of C60, C6F5CF2I, and SnH(n-Bu)3 produced, among other unidentified fullerene derivatives, the two new compounds 1,9-C60(CF2C6F5)H (1) and 1,9-C60(cyclo-CF2(2-C6F4)) (2). The highest isolated yield of 1 was 35% based on C60. Depending on the reaction conditions, the relative amounts of 1 and 2 generated in situ were as high as 85% and 71%, respectively, based on HPLC peak integration and summing over all fullerene species present other than unreacted C60. Compound 1 is thermally stable in 1,2-dichlorobenzene (oDCB) at 160 °C but was rapidly converted to 2 upon addition of Sn2(n-Bu)6 at this temperature. In contrast, complete conversion of 1 to 2 occurred within minutes, or hours, at 25 °C in 90/10 (v/v) PhCN/C6D6 by addition of stoichiometric, or sub-stoichiometric, amounts of proton sponge (PS) or cobaltocene (CoCp2). DFT calculations indicate that when 1 is deprotonated, the anion C60(CF2C6F5)− can undergo facile intramolecular SNAr annulation to form 2 with concomitant loss of F−. To our knowledge this is the first observation of a fullerene-cage carbanion acting as an SNAr nucleophile towards an aromatic C–F bond. The gas-phase electron affinity (EA) of 2 was determined to be 2.805(10) eV by low-temperature PES, higher by 0.12(1) eV than the EA of C60 and higher by 0.18(1) eV than the EA of phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM). In contrast, the relative E1/2(0/−) values of 2 and C60, −0.01(1) and 0.00(1) V, respectively, are virtually the same (on this scale, and under the same conditions, the E1/2(0/−) of PCBM is −0.09 V). Time-resolved microwave conductivity charge-carrier yield × mobility values for organic photovoltaic active-layer-type blends of 2 and poly-3-hexylthiophene (P3HT) were comparable to those for equimolar blends of PCBM and P3HT. The structure of solvent-free crystals of 2 was determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The number of nearest-neighbor fullerene–fullerene interactions with centroid⋯centroid (⊙⋯⊙) distances of ≤10.34 Å is significantly greater, and the average ⊙⋯⊙ distance is shorter, for 2 (10 nearest neighbors; ave. ⊙⋯⊙ distance = 10.09 Å) than for solvent-free crystals of PCBM (7 nearest neighbors; ave. ⊙⋯⊙ distance = 10.17 Å). Finally, the thermal stability of 2 was found to be far greater than that of PCBM.