Ebook: Endofullerenes: A New Family of Carbon Clusters

To the eyes of a chemist, carbon is certainly one of the most fascinating elements of the periodic table. Basically, the electronic structure and atomic size of carbon enables this element to form a variety of bonds with other elements and, most importantly, with other carbon atoms as weIl. These unique features lead to the amazingly complicated molecular structures we encounter e. g. in life sciences and organic chemistry. Of course, the technical importance of carbon is enormou- but I don't want to carry too many coals to Newcastle. Prom the viewpoint of an astrophysicist or chemist, the significance of carbon lies in the fact that it is the most abundant condensable element in space. Born in the interior of stars, and from there expelled into the interstellar medium, it initiates the formation of simple and complex molecules and of nanoscopic grains. These in turn form huge clouds in space - the birthplace of new stars and planetary systems. The decisive role of carbon in interstellar chemistry is widely accepted and the search for more and more families of interstellar carbon-bearing molecules is a topic of ongoing research. The interdisciplinary aspect of carbon also concerns its various solid forms, in which C and the other closed-cage fullerenes are certainly some of the most popular 60 newcomers.

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This book, edited and written by an outstanding team of experts, aims to review the current research work on endofullerenes (endohedrally doped fullerenes). The book is based on a classification according to atom(s) encapsulated into fullerene. This allows an in-depth treatment of the characteristics of each class of endofullerene. The wide-range scientific community of chemistry, physics, material science and so forth will welcome this book as a valuable source of a new family of fullerenes, endofullerenes for developing their future science. Structural, electronic, and dynamical properties of endofullerenes such as He@C₆₀, Li@C₆₀, N@C₆₀, La@C₈₂, La₂@C₈₀, and Sc₃N@C₈₀ are described which have been experimentally and theoretically investigated using a wide variety of methods. In general, the emphasis is on the experimental scope and the theoretical aspects of various endofullerenes.
By presenting and comparing data from different sources, experiments and theory, the book helps the reader to rapidly master the basic knowledge, to grasp important issues, and critically discuss them.