Superconductivity of fcc fullerides containing off-centered octahedral cations

Synthesis of face-centred cubic Cs3C60 in THF

A solution chemistry synthetic route yields Cs₃C₆₀ with a face-centred cubic structure. The described method uses well-established Schlenk techniques and THF as a solvent. The controlled addition of an organo-metallic salt reducing agent prevents the formation of C₆₀⁴⁻ salts. The final product can be precipitated from the solution using hexane as an anti-solvent.

Nuclear magnetic resonance structural investigations of ammonia-doped fullerides

The dynamic and structural properties of the ammonia-doped superconducting fulleride (NH3)xNaK2C60 (0.5< or =x< or =1), well known for its anomalous decrease of transition temperature with doping, have been investigated using sodium and deuterium solid-state NMR techniques. The independence of 23Na quadrupole splitting from the ammonia content x, which, at the same time, substantially affects Tc, suggests a marginal role of the cation position in the superconducting mechanism. On the other hand, a strong reduction of the deuterium quadrupole coupling with respect to the free ammonia value denotes the presence of weak hydrogen bonds between the deuterium atoms and fullerene pi orbitals. Despite the bond weakness, as evinced by the lively ammonia rotational dynamics even at very low temperatures, the resulting electron localization could explain the observed Tc anomaly. The motion of the ND3-Na group (located in the compound's octahedral voids), as well as the evolution of the ammonia dynamics as a function of temperature, were determined from deuterium NMR line shape analysis and from detailed numerical simulations. While at the lowest measured temperatures only the ammonia rotation around its own C3 axis takes place, above approximately 25 and 70 K, respectively, also the wobbling of the C3 axis and the ND3 relocation become active, successfully modeled by a strongly correlated motion involving two different time scales.

NMR spectrometric study of molecular complex formation of [60]- and [70]fullerenes with a number of phosphine oxides

Molecular complex formation between [60]- and [70]fullerenes with a series of phosphine oxides, namely, tri-n-octyl phosphine oxide, triphenyl phosphine oxide and tri-n-butyl phosphine oxide has been studied in CCl4 medium by NMR spectrometric method. Both [60]- and [70]fullerenes have been shown to form 1:1 adducts with the above series of phosphine oxides. Formation constants (K) for all the complexes have been determined from the systematic variation of NMR chemical shifts of specific protons of the donors in presence of [60]- and [70]fullerenes. Trends in the values of K suggest that [70]fullerene binds stronger with the phosphine oxides relative to [60]fullerene.

Ammoniated alkali fullerides (ND(3))(x)NaA(2)C(60): ammonia specific effects and superconductivity

The crystal structure of the superconducting (ND(3))(x)()NaA(2)C(60) (0.7 < or = x < or = 1, A= K, Rb) fullerides (T(c)= 6-15 K) has been studied by synchrotron X-ray and neutron powder diffraction. It is face-centered cubic (fcc) to low temperatures with Na(+)-ND(3) pairs residing in the octahedral interstices. These are disordered over the corners of two "interpenetrating" cubes with the Na(+) ions and the N atoms displaced by approximately 2.0 A and approximately 0.5 A from the center of the site and statically disordered over the corners of the inner and outer cube, respectively. Close contacts between the D atoms of the ND(3) molecules and electron rich 6:6 C-C bonds of neighboring C(60) units provide the signature of weak N-D.pi hydrogen-bonding interactions, which control the intermolecular packing in the crystal and may determine the unusual superconducting properties.

Evidence for insulating behavior in the electric conduction of (NH(3))K(3)C(60) systems

Microwave study using the cavity perturbation technique revealed that the conductivity of the antiferromagnet (NH(3))K(3-x)Rb(x)C(60) at 200 K is already 3-4 orders of magnitude smaller than those of superconductors, K(3)C(60) and (NH(3))(x)NaRb(2)C(60), and that the antiferromagnetic compounds are insulators below 250 K without metal-insulator transitions. The striking difference in the magnitude of the conductivity between these materials strongly suggests that the Mott-Hubbard transition in the ammoniated alkali fullerides is driven by a reduction of lattice symmetry from face-centered-cubic to face-centered-orthorhombic, rather than by the magnetic ordering.