View all research projects
Research project

Molecular Endofullerenes

Project overview

This project consists of the synthesis and multidisciplinary investigation of small molecules trapped inside fullerene cages. The host molecules in these unique molecular systems behave as quantum rotors and exhibit phenomena such as spin isomerism, spin isomer conversion, quantised molecular motion, and quantum-rotor induced hyperpolarization.

Staff

Lead researchers

Professor Malcolm Levitt

Professor of Chemistry
Research interests
  • Magnetic Resonance
  • Endofullerenes
Connect with Malcolm

Email: mhl@soton.ac.uk

Other researchers

Professor Richard Whitby

Professor of Chemistry
Research interests
  • Synthesis, properties and application of atomic and molecular endofullerenes.
  • The use of flow chemistry for the rapid acquisition of mechanistic and process information.
  • The synthesis of polyaromatic molecules for optoelectronic applications.
Connect with Richard

Email: R.J.Whitby@soton.ac.uk

Collaborating research institutes, centres and groups

Research outputs

Spin-isomer conversion of water at room temperature, and quantum-rotor-induced nuclear polarization, in the water-endofullerene H2​​​O​@C60
Benno Meier, Karel Kouril, Christian Bengs, Hana Kourilova, Timothy Barker, Stuart Elliott, Shamim Alom, Richard J. Whitby & Malcolm H. Levitt, 2018, Physical Review Letters, 120(26), 1-6
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.120.266001
Type: letterEditorial
Alignment of 17O-enriched water-endofullerenes H2O@C60 in a liquid crystal matrix
Karel Kouril, Benno Meier, Shamim Alom, Richard J. Whitby & Malcolm H. Levitt, 2018, Faraday Discussions, 212, 517-532
DOI: 10.1039/C8FD00095F
Type: article
NMR lineshapes and scalar relaxation of the 17O-labelled water-endofullerene H2O@C60
Stuart J. Elliott, Christian Bengs, Karel Kouril, Benno Meier, Shamim Alom, Richard J. Whitby & Malcolm H. Levitt, 2018, ChemPhysChem, 19, 251-255
DOI: 10.1002/cphc.201701330
Type: article
Synthesis and properties of open fullerenes encapsulating ammonia and methane
Sally Bloodworth, John Gravisk, Shamim Alom, Karel Kouril, Stuart Elliott, Neil J. Wells, Anthony J. Horsewill, Salvatore Mamone, Mónica Jiménez-Ruiz, Stéphane Rols, Urmas Nagel, Toomas Rõõm, Malcolm H. Levitt & Richard J. Whitby, 2018, ChemPhysChem, 19, 266-276
DOI: 10.1002/cphc.201701212
Type: article
NMR of molecular endofullerenes dissolved in a nematic liquid crystal
Karel Kouril, Christopher Wickens, Benno Meier, Shamim Alom, John Grasvik, Richard J. Whitby & Malcolm H. Levitt, 2017, Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, 2017(19), 11793-11801
DOI: 10.1039/C7CP00906B
Type: article
The dipolar endofullerene HF@C60
Andrea Krachmalnicoff, Richard Bounds, Salvatore Mamone, Shamim Alom, Maria Concistrè, Benno Meier, Karel Kouril, Mark E. Light, Mark R. Johnson, Stéphane Rols, Anthony J. Horsewill, Anna Shugai, Urmas Nagel, Toomas Rõõm, Marina Carravetta, Malcolm H. Levitt & Richard J. Whitby, 2016, Nature Chemistry, 8(10), 953-957
DOI: 10.1038/nchem.2563
Type: article
Symmetry-breaking in the H2@C60 endofullerene revealed by inelastic neutron scattering at low temperature
Salvatore Mamone, Mark R. Johnson, Jacques Ollivier, Stéphane Rols, Malcolm H. Levitt & Anthony J. Horsewill, 2016, Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, 18(3), 1998-2005
DOI: 10.1039/c5cp07146a
Type: article