Progress Toward the First Rational Synthesis of a [5.5] Carbon Nanotube

Abstract

The purpose of this project was to make progress toward a chemical synthesis of a conductive [5,5] single-walled nanotube (SWNT), specifically a C50H10 geodesic cap. The term geodesic cap refers to the smallest fragment of a nanotube that resembles the chirality and structure of a specific nanotube. Beyond synthesizing a specific nanotube, we were also interested in exploring new reactions and compounds to perform indenoannulation reactions. The interest in these compounds, which contain indeno structures, comes from their resemblance to C60 and higher fullerenes, and more specifically the intermediates to our target molecule, the C50H10 geodesic cap.