What question did this study set out to answer?

This research aims to investigate the vibrational spectra of endohedral fullerenes containing water molecules, assessing their detectability in space.

April 3, 2026Open Access

Gas-phase spectroscopy of H 2 O@C 60 + and H 2 O@C 60 H + in the mid-infrared: the challenges of searching for endohedral fullerenes in space

Key Points

This research aims to investigate the vibrational spectra of endohedral fullerenes containing water molecules, assessing their detectability in space.
Analysis of gas-phase vibrational spectra
Comparison with results from empty fullerenes
Examination of mid-infrared properties
Spectra of H2O@C60+ and H2O@C60H+ are similar to empty fullerene spectra
Detection of these compounds in space via IR emission is complicated
Challenges in distinguishing features due to spectral similarities

Abstract

This study presents the first gas-phase vibrational spectra of endohedral fullerenes with an IR-active guest. The spectra look remarkably similar to those of the empty fullerenes, which will make astronomical detection using IR emission challenging.

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Cite This Study

O'Neill et al. (Thu,) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/69cf5f005a333a821460dbff https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1039/d6cp00593d

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