Purification of Trimetallic Nitride Templated Endohedral Metallofullerenes by a Chemical Reaction of Congeners with Eutectic 9-Methylanthracene

The availability of pure samples is a major hurdle in the study of trimetallic nitride templated endohedral metallofullerenes (TNT EMFs). Current HPLC methods of purification are costly, nonrecyclable, and take considerable time. Reported herein is a solvent-free reaction of crude soot extract (empty-cage and Sc or Lu TNT EMFs) in molten 9-methylanthracene that affords almost complete conversion of empty-cage fullerenes to 9-methylanthracene adducts, while leaving TNT EMFs unreacted. After the recovered extract is washed with diethyl ether, the washed extract can then be applied to a silica gel column and subsequently flushed with toluene. To illustrate for Sc3N@C80, the sample was purified to ∼60% in a time period of 99%) in an expeditious and less costly manner.