Endohedral Fullerenes: From Exotic Chemical Bonding to Molecular Circuits

The article is dedicated to the 70ᵗʰ anniversary of the founding of the Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the CAS in Prague

Abstract

Since their discovery, fullerenes represent a fascina­ting type of molecule with many unusual properties. One of these is the existence of a cavity into which other atoms and molecules can be enclosed to form the so-called endohedral fullerenes. In terms of fundamental research, endohedral fullerenes provide a platform for studying exotic chemical bonds between atoms enclosed inside the fullerene cage. At the same time, endohedral fullerenes also find practical applications, for example in solar cells, material science, electronics and molecular electronics. In this article, we review the research on exotic bonds in fullerenes and the use of fullerenes as molecular components.