Modifications of fullerenes extractions and chromatographies with different solvents

Abstract

In the Bucky System II, based on electrical arc method, carbon soot was produced. Fullerenes C-60 and C-70 were Soxhlet extracted from the collected soot samples with toluene, chlorobenzene and with both of them successively, modifying the original methods. The yields of the both obtained toluene extracts were 5.4%. Chlorobenzene extract yield was 5.8%. After extraction of toluene insoluble soot with chlorobenzene, the entire extract yield was increased from 5.4% to 5.8%, due to modification of the existing methods. The difference of fullerenes solubilities in these solvents has been concluded. In the second part of our work toluene and chlorobenzene fullerenes extracts were separated by column chromatographics on active Al2O3, modifying the existing methods, by elution with hexane and mixtures of benzene, toluene, or xylene with hexane in determined ratios and orders. Identifications of buckminsterfullerene C-60 in the first chromatographically purified fractions were achieved by electron impact ionization (EI) mass, IR, and UV/VIS spectroscopy. The second and the third purified fullerene fractions, toluene and chlorobenzene soot extracts were characterized by IR and UV/VIS methods.