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Interstellar molecules are thought to build up in the shielded environment ofmolecular clouds or in the envelope of evolved stars. This follows manysequential reaction steps of atoms and simple molecules in the gas phase and/oron (icy) grain surfaces. However, these chemical routes are highly inefficientfor larger species in the tenuous environment of space as many steps areinvolved and, indeed, models fail to explain the observed high abundances. Thisis definitely the case for the C$_{60}$ fullerene, recently identified as oneof the most complex molecules in the interstellar medium. Observations haveshown that, in some PDRs, its abundance increases close to strong UV-sources.In this letter we report laboratory findings in which C$_{60}$ formation can beexplained by characterizing the photochemical evolution of large PAHs.Sequential H losses lead to fully dehydrogenated PAHs and subsequent losses ofC$_{2}$ units convert graphene into cages. Our results present for the firsttime experimental evidence that PAHs in excess of 60 C-atoms efficientlyphoto-isomerize to Buckminsterfullerene, C$_{60}$. These laboratory studiesalso attest to the importance of top-down synthesis routes for chemicalcomplexity in space.

Laboratory formation of fullerenes from PAHs: Top-down interstellar chemistry