Purification of Sc-metallofullerenes by a supramolecular nanocapsule

A self-assembled Cu(II)-based nanocapsule enables efficient and straightforward isolation of Sc3N@C80 from arc-processed raw soot. The newly designed Cu(II)-based supramolecular nanocapsule 5áÀ(OTf)8 was used to effectively entrap fullerenes and endohedral metallofullerenes (EMFs) with different affinities depending on their size and shape. Moreover, we took advantage of the sharply different entrapment abilities of the 5áÀ(OTf)8 cage in the solid state versus in solution to encapsulate all the species with the exception of Sc3N@C80 (both Ih and D5h isomers), which remains pure in solution. HPLC quantification determined that up to 85% of the total Sc3N@C80 content in the initial mixture was recovered in very high purity (>99.5%). The complete release of the encapsulated species with an orthogonal solvent-washing strategy regenerates 5áÀ(OTf) 8 ready to be re-used. This approach opens new opportunities for EMFs purification. The results were published today in Chemistry – A European Journal (Chem. Eur. J. 2017, ASAP).

C. Fuertes-Espinosa, C. García-Simñn, E. Castro, M. Costas, L. Echegoyen, and X. Ribas
“A copper-based supramolecular nanocapsule that enables straightforward purification of Sc3N-based endohedral metallofullerene soots”
Chem. Eur. J. 2017, [], ASAP-
[abstract]
DOI: 10.1002/chem.201700046