Inorganic Chemistry, Vol.55, No.1, 62-67, 2016
Isolation and Crystallographic Characterization of Gd3N@D-2(35)-C-88 through Non-Chromatographic Methods
While several nonchromatographic (methods are available for the isolation and purification of endohedral fullerenes of the type M3N@I-h-C-80, little work has been done that would allow other members of the M3N@C-2n family to be isolated with minimal chromatography. Here, we report that Gd3N@D-2(35)-C-88 can be isolated from the multitude of endohedral and empty cage fullerenes present in carbon soot obtained by electric-arc synthesis using Gd2O3-doped graphite rods. The procedure developed utilizes successive precipitation with the Lewis acids CaCl2 and ZnCl2 followed by treatment with amino-functionalized silica gel. The structure of the product was identified by single-crystal X-ray diffraction.