C60: From Soot to Superconductors

Fullerene research will shortly revolutionize chemistry says the author of this highlight. At the spring meeting of the American Chemical and Physical Societies there were already a whole series of lectures devoted to this fascinating new class of compounds. C60 is commercially available and has been oxidized, reduced, hydrogenated, fluorinated, and derivatized in many other ways. Most spectacular of course is that RbxC60 is a superconductor with Tc = 30 K.