富勒烯Buckminsterfullerene

每个碳原子与三个碳原子相连，处于一个五元环和两个六元环的交汇处。剩余的一个电子参与离域 π 体系，但由于分子弯曲，电子离域不如石墨充分。C₆₀ 有两种 C–C 键：六元环与六元环之间的键较短（约 139 pm），五元环与六元环之间的键较长（约 145 pm）。

Each carbon is bonded to three others, at the junction of one pentagon and two hexagons. The remaining electron joins a delocalised π system, but because the cage is curved the delocalisation is less complete than in graphite. C₆₀ has two kinds of C–C bond: those shared by two hexagons are shorter (about 139 pm) and those between a pentagon and a hexagon longer (about 145 pm).

C₆₀ 由分子构成，分子间只有较弱的范德华力，所以硬度和熔点远低于金刚石，能升华，能溶于甲苯、二硫化碳等有机溶剂得到紫红色溶液，不溶于水。它不像石墨那样导电，但与碱金属形成的化合物如 K₃C₆₀ 在低温下具有超导性。

C₆₀ is molecular, with only weak van der Waals forces between molecules, so it is far softer and lower-melting than diamond, sublimes, dissolves in organic solvents such as methylbenzene and carbon disulfide to give purple-red solutions, and is insoluble in water. It does not conduct like graphite, but alkali-metal compounds such as K₃C₆₀ become superconducting at low temperature.

1985 年，克罗托、柯尔和斯莫利用激光蒸发石墨，在质谱中发现质量为 720 的特别强的峰，推断出 C₆₀ 的笼状结构。它以建筑师巴克敏斯特·富勒命名，因其设计的网格球顶与 C₆₀ 结构相似。1990 年人们找到了用电弧蒸发石墨大量制备 C₆₀ 的方法，才能对它进行系统研究。

In 1985 Kroto, Curl and Smalley vaporised graphite with a laser and found an unusually strong mass-spectrum peak at 720, from which they deduced the cage structure of C₆₀. It is named after the architect Buckminster Fuller, whose geodesic domes resemble its structure. In 1990 a way was found to make C₆₀ in bulk by arc-vaporising graphite, opening it to systematic study.