Transition metal fullerene complex

Fullerenes are typically spheroidal carbon compounds, the most prevalent being buckminsterfullerene, C60.

[2] One year after it was prepared in milligram quantities in 1990,[3] C60 was shown to function as a ligand in the complex [Ph3P]2Pt(η2-C60).

They almost always coordinate in a dihapto fashion and prefer electron-rich metal centers.

Platinum, palladium, and nickel form complexes of the type C60ML2 where L is a monodentate or bidentate phosphorus ligand.

[5] They are prepared by displacement of weakly coordinating ligands such as ethylene:[6] In [(Et3P)2Pt]6(η2-C60), six Pt centers are bound to the fullerene.

Structure of C 60 [IrCl(CO)(PMe 3 ) 2 ] 2 . [ 1 ] Color code: green = Cl, blue = Ir, ochre = P
Ferrocene -like complex of C 60 Ph 5 − .