Scientists in the US have shown that mono- and hexakis-adducts of C60 fullerenes with crown ether rings can be made and then used as recognition sites for dibenzylammonium cationic derivatives, forming [2]- and [7]pseudorotaxanes, in solution.
The team are now busy exploring whether this hydrogen bonded recognition motif can be used to anchor C60 onto nanoparticles and flat surfaces.
Fraser Stoddart and his dedicated team at Northwestern University used NMR spectroscopy to look at the solid-state superstructure in more detail.
Fancy reading more? Then why not download the communication today, published in ChemComm, it will be free to access until the end of December.