Properties of endohedral N@C60 Original Research Article

Endohedral N@C60 (atomic nitrogen inside C60) is produced by ion implantation. N@C60 is soluble in organic solvents and stable in air. A special feature is that it gives a very clear hyperfine split EPR signal with sharp lines even in the solid. This makes it an ideal probe for monitoring chemical reactions of C60 via changes of the EPR signal. As an example, the formation of the monoadduct of diethyl malonate on C60 will be discussed. In general, N@C60 can be used as a probe or tracer for monitoring reactions or the transport of C60. We show that C60 is an ideal trap for atomic nitrogen. Nitrogen is in the center of C60 and keeps its atomic structure. In a first experiment, the vibrations of nitrogen in C60 were studied.