The Yttrium Embedded Metal Fullerene Preparation And Separation

Since the first experimental evidence of the existence of endohedral metallofullerenes(EMFs) was obtained, endohedral fullerenes have attracted much attention because of their electronic features as a consequence of charge transfer and covalent interactions between the encaged structures and the carbon cage. EMFs offer a broad range of properties that could be of fundamental use in different fields, such as materials science, medicine and so on. Up to now, a large variety of endohedral metallofullerenes have been prepared. However, further investigations are strongly hampered by their generally low yield production and difficult separation.The soot with yttrium metallofullerenes was produced by the classic DC arc discharge method. Synthesis conditions, such as DC current, pressure of He gas and other factors were discussed.The produced metallofullerenes soot was Soxhlet-extracted by CS2, toluene and DMF at room temperature, and the extraction ability of CS2, toluene and DMF towards EMFs was clarified.A series of yttrium endohedral metallofullerenes were isolated by HPLC from CS2 and DMF extracts, separately and analyzed by matrix-assisted laser desorption time of flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry.