Specific Intermolecular Interactions by the Localized π-Electrons in C₇₀-fullerene

We report the specific intermolecular interactions on C₇₀-fullerene. A newly developed silica-monolithic capillary column, which was modified with C₇₀-fullerene via a particular thermal reactive molecule, perfluorophenyl azide, provided a selective retention behavior toward polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in liquid chromatography. Especially, a hemispherical molecule, i. e., corannulene, was significantly retained on this C₇₀-fullerene column. Results of the computer simulation of the molecules suggested that the specific interaction might be caused by the deflection of the π-electrons-density in C₇₀-fullerene. Furthermore, the absorption spectrometry also indicated that the absorption spectra of C₇₀-fullerene with/without corannulene were dramatically changed by the specific interaction, whereas no spectrum differences were observed with C₆₀-fullerene.