Atoms and molecules confined inside C60

Abstract

Following the discovery of quantum mechanics, properties of atoms and molecules in confined environments were investigated using model systems and the implications of the results for real systems in the laboratory as well as in astrophysical conditions (white dwarfs and neutron stars) were examined. While chemists continued to study photochemical properties of molecules inside solvent cages and molecular cages, the discovery of fullerene, C60, gave a new impetus to the investigation of electronic properties of atoms/ions and electronic and vib-rotational properties of individual molecules inside the cavity of the fullerene cage. This overview presents the results of theoretical investigations on atoms, molecules and their clusters inside C60 from the author’s laboratory.