With funding from the Organic Dynamics Program Professors Saunders and Cross from Yale University will study the mechanism of the insertion and release process that creates endohedral nobel gas compounds of Buckminsterfullerene. Equilibrium constants and thermodynamic parameters will be theoretically and experimentally determined for the binding of atoms and small molecules in the interior of fullerenes. The photochemical release of helium from endohedral binding in fullerenes will be explored. This research will study the unique behavior of a new form of carbon called Buckminsterfullerene in which carbon atoms are bonded together to form a closed surface like a soccer ball. Helium atoms are incorporated inside the closed surface under conditions of very high pressures of helium. The behavior of this unique form of material will be explored. These compounds may find new applications in the fields of medicine, pharmaceuticals, and materials.
