Endohedral metallofullerenes in self-assembled monolayers

A method has been developed for the attachment of a dithiolane group to endohedral metallofullerenes via a 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reaction. This sulfur-containing functional group serves as an anchor, enabling efficient immobilisation of endohedral fullerenes on Au(111) surfaces at room temperature, directly from the solution phase. The functionalised fullerenes form disordered monolayers that exhibit no long-range ordering, which is attributed to both the strong bonding of the dithiolane anchor to the surface and to the conformational flexibility of the functional group. Endohedral fullerenes Er3N@C-80 and Sc3N@C-80 have been used as models for functionalisation and subsequent surface deposition. Their chemical reactivity towards dithiolane functionalisation and their surface behaviour have been compared to that of C-60. The endohedral fullerenes appear to be significantly less reactive towards the functionalisation than C-60, however they bind in a similar manner to a gold surface as their dithiolane terminated C-60 counterparts. The optical activity of Er3N@C-80 molecules is preserved after attachment of the functional group. We report a splitting of the endohedral Er3+ emission lines due to the reduction in symmetry of the functionalised fullerene cage, as compared to the highly symmetrical icosahedral C-80 cage of pristine Er3N@C-80.