The Mechanism of Fullerence Formation

“Next to nothing is known about how fullerenes actually grow and form.” This statement was published in spring. Soon thereafter Bowers et al. published a series of articles that seem to be the light at the end of the tunnel. According to these studies, in graphite vaporization primarily C   + n , clusters form from single C atoms. These species are linear (for C   + 5to C   + 10 ), monocyclic (for C   + 7to C   + 28 ), and planar‐bicyclic cations (for C   + 21to about C   + 50 ); fullerenes are also present above C   + 30 . The most important new insight is that the mono‐ and bicyclic C   + nspecies isomerize directly to fullerenes on addition of energy; „cooling” of the „excited” fullerenes takes place by loss of C 1 , C 2 , or C 3 units.