Dimerization of pentacyclopentacorannulene C30H10 as a strategy to produce C60H20 as a precursor for C60

The chemical synthesis of C 60 fullerene in the laboratory is still a challenge. In order to achieve this goal, we propose a synthetic route based on the dimerization between two pentacyclopentacorannulene (C 30 H 10) fragments employing the Diels-Alder cycloaddition reaction. Density functional calculations indicate that a step wise non-concerted dimerization mechanism of C 30 H 10 is favored over a one stage dimerization.