Electrosynthesis of buckyballs with fused-ring systems from PCBM and its analogue.

6,6]-Phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM), a star molecule in the fullerene field, has found wide applications in materials science. Herein, electrosynthesis of buckyballs with fused-ring systems has been achieved through radical α-C-H functionalization of the side-chain ester for both PCBM and its analogue, [6,6]-phenyl-C61-propionic acid methyl ester (PCPM), in the presence of a trace amount of oxygen. Two classes of buckyballs with fused bi- and tricyclic carbocycles have been electrochemically synthesized. Furthermore, an unknown type of a bisfulleroid with two tethered [6,6]-open orifices can also be efficiently generated from PCPM. All three types of products have been confirmed by single-crystal X-ray crystallography. A representative intramolecularly annulated isomer of PCBM has been applied as an additive to inverted planar perovskite solar cells and boosted a significant enhancement of power conversion efficiency from 15.83% to 17.67%. © 2023. The Author(s).

Citation

Wei-Feng Wang, Kai-Qing Liu, Chuang Niu, Yun-Shu Wang, Yang-Rong Yao, Zheng-Chun Yin, Muqing Chen, Shi-Qi Ye, Shangfeng Yang, Guan-Wu Wang. Electrosynthesis of buckyballs with fused-ring systems from PCBM and its analogue. Nature communications. 2023 Dec 05;14(1):8052

PMID: 38052783

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