Fullerene Compounds
Noble gases can also form endohedral fullerene compounds where the noble gas atom is trapped inside a fullerene molecule. In 1993, it was discovered that when C60 is exposed to a pressure of around 3 bar of He or Ne, the complexes He@C60 and Ne@C60 are formed. Under these conditions, only about one out of every 650,000 C60 cages was doped with a helium atom; with higher pressures (3000 bar), it is possible to achieve a yield of up to 0.1%. Endohedral complexes with argon, krypton and xenon have also been obtained, as well as numerous adducts of He@C60.
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