Solution and Solid State NMR Studies of the Structure and Dynamics of C60 and C70

ABSTRACTWe have investigated the structure and dynamics of C60 and C70 with 13C NMR spectroscopy. In solution, high-resolution spectra reveal that C60 has a single resonance at 143 ppm, indicating a strained, aromatic system with high symmetry. This is strong evidence for a C60 “soccer ball” geometry. A 2D NMR INADEQUATE experiment on 13C-enriched C70 reveals the bonding connectivity to be a linear string, in firm support of the proposed “rugby ball” structure with D5h symmetry, and furnishes resonance assignments. Solid state NMR spectra of C60 at ambient temperatures yield a narrow resonance, indicative of rapid molecular reorientation. Variable temperature T1 measurements show that the rotational correlation time is ∼ 10−9s at 230 K. At 77 K, this time increases to more than 1 ms, and the 13C NMR spectrum of C60 is a powder pattern due to chemical shift anisotropy (tensor components 220, 186, 40 ppm). At intermediate temperatures a narrow peak is superimposed on the powder pattern, suggesting a distribution of barriers to molecular motion in the sample, or the presence of an additional phase in the solid state. A Carr-Purcell dipolar experiment on C60 in the solid state allows the first precise determination of the C60 bond lengths: 1.45 and 1.40Å.