buckminsterfullerene

[After Richard Buckminster FULLER.]

A form of carbon composed of clusters of 60 carbon atoms bonded together in a polyhedral structure composed of pentagons and hexagons (see illustration). Originally it was identified in 1985 in products obtained by firing a high-power laser at a graphite target. It can be made by an electric arc struck between graphite electrodes in an inert atmosphere. The molecule, C₆₀, was named after the US architect Richard Buckminster Fuller (1895–1983) because of the resemblance of the structure to the geodesic dome, which Fuller invented. The molecules are informally called buckyballs; more formally, the substance itself is also called fullerene. The substance is a yellow crystalline solid (fullerite), soluble in benzene.

Various fullerene derivatives are known in which organic groups are attached to carbon atoms on the sphere. In addition, it is possible to produce novel enclosure compounds by trapping metal ions within the C₆₀ cage. Some of these have semiconducting properties. The electric-arc method of producing C₆₀ also leads to a smaller number of fullerenes such as C₇₀, which have less symmetrical molecular structures. It is also possible to produce forms of carbon in which the atoms are linked in a cylindrical, rather than spherical, framework with a diameter of a few nanometres. They are known as buckytubes (or nanotubes).

Buckminsterfullerene

External Links:

• http://www.chem.qmul.ac.uk/iupac/fullerene/ -- Information about IUPAC nomenclature and representation of fullerenes and related compounds

It is a large molecule in the shape of a soccer ball, containing 60 carbon atoms, whose structure is the shape of a truncated icosahedron (a hollow, spherical object with 32 faces, 12 of them pentagons and the rest hexagons). This molecule was named buckminsterfullerene because of the structure's resemblance to the geodesic domes designed by American architect R. Buckminster Fuller (1895-1983). The molecule was formed by vaporizing material from a graphite surface with a laser. Large molecules containing only carbon atoms have been known to exist around certain types of carbon-rich stars. Similar molecules are also thought to be present in soot formed during the incomplete combustion of organic materials. Chemist Richard Smalley identified buckminsterfullerene in 1985 and speculated that it may be fairly common throughout the universe. Since that time, other stable, large, even-numbered carbon clusters have been produced. This new class of molecules has been called "fullerenes" since they all seem to have the structure of a geodesic dome. They are also popularly known as "bucky balls." Buckminsterfullerene (C₆₀) seems to function as an insulator, conductor, semi-conductor, and superconductor in various compounds. Although no practical application has yet to be developed for it or the other fullerenes, research is expected to result in new types of materials, lubricants, coatings, catalysts, electro-optical devices, and medical applications.

The noun has one meaning:

Meaning #1: the first known example of a fullerene
  Synonym: buckyball