Electronic Communication in Fullerene Dimers. Electrochemical and Electron Paramagnetic Resonance Study of the Reduction of C120O

Cyclic voltammetry (cv) and differential pulse voltammetry (dpv) studies of C 120 O reveal that this bis(fullerene) undergoes six sequential, one-electron reductions to form the ions [C 120 O] n - where n is −1 to −6. The first two reductions of C 120 O occur at potentials that are close to that for the reduction of C 60 to [C 60 ] - and it appears that the two electrons are added successively to each of the two fullerene cages. Similarly, the second two reductions of C 120 O occur at potentials that are close to the reduction potential for the conversion of [C 60 ] - to [C 60 ] 2- . Electron paramagnetic resonance spectra have been observed for both [C 120 O] 2- and [C 120 O] 4- . For [C 120 O] 2- the EPR spectrum in o -dichlorobenzene at 77 K consists of a doublet-like feature ( g = 2.0016) that is surrounded by features characteristic of a triplet state ( g = 2.0030). It is concluded that for [C 120 O] 2- the spectrum indicates that there is significant interaction between the two electrons that have been added to the fullerene and that the species is not a diradical.