C60 - An Abiotic Terpenoid?

ABSTRACT It is proposed that the formation of the C60 cage, named buckminsterfullerene, proceeds via the modified isoprene mechanism. Hence, it is postulated that this molecule is an abiotic terpenoid. Similar mechanism is also proposed for the formation of the C59N cage. Since the thermodynamic stabilities of C60 and C59N cages are comparable, the reason why the latter cage is not yet observed in the laboratory conditions is probably related to its greater kinetic instability than that of buckminsterfullerene.