Synthesis and Properties of Energy-Rich Methanofullerenes Containing Norbornadiene and Quadricyclane Moieties.

The energy-rich methanofullerenes were synthesized for the first time by the reaction of fullerene C60 with mono- and bisquadricyclane esters of malonic acid. The C-C bond cleavage in the quadricyclane moieties of new hybrid molecules takes place in the presence of catalytic amounts of Cu, Pd, and Pt salts or complexes or SiO2 and is accompanied by heat evolution.