The goal of this research is the preparation of fullerene encapsulated metal ions commonly known as endohedral metal complexes. This involves the synthesis of C60 via the catalyzed coupling of bowl shaped pentaethynylcorannulene (C30H10), a compound which comprises half of the C60 framework. Complexes of paramagnetic transition and lanthanide ions, which decrease the relaxation times of nearby nuclei via dipolar interactions, have received much attention as MRI contrasting agents. The development of this field has greatly increased the accuracy of cancer diagnosis and staging. Unfortunately, there is still a need for the development of tissue specific imaging agents, which has elucidated researchers. The incorporation of high-spin ions within C60 should allow the development of new MRI agents and perhaps improve the sensitivity of this technique for tumor detection over current methods. Since the fullerene scaffold can be derivatized through the addition of a variety of reagents including nucleophiles, carbenes, radicals, benzyne and dienes, the study of the influence or addends (especially OH-groups) on spin relaxation properties will be studied. Addends can also modulate the physical properties of endohedral complexes to address issues such as solubility, toxicity and retention time.
