Bond formation in C+59 – C60 collisions

In this work, we show that keV-ions are able to remove single carbon atoms from individual fullerenes in clusters of C60 molecules. This very efficiently leads to the formation of exotic C+119 dumbbell molecules through secondary C+59 + C60 collisions within the fragmenting cluster. Such molecular fusion processes are inherently different from those induced by photons where only products with even numbers of carbon atoms are observed. Thus, ion collisions ignite unique and hitherto overlooked secondary reactions in small aggregates of matter. This relates to the question on how complex molecules may form in e.g. space.