The breakthrough is reported in a recently published article in the journal Science, with the School of Chemistry's Dr Paul Gates among the co-authors.
The synthesis of a new type of molecular carbon allotrope that can be studied under normal laboratory conditions is a rare achievement. The only previous example was the first synthesis of fullerenes in research led by Wolfgang Krätschmer, as published in the journal Nature in 1990.
Previously, cyclocarbons have only been studied in the gas phase and on surfaces at temperatures below 10 K. In this study, Cyclo[48]carbon was synthesised as a [4] catenane, for example with the C48 ring threaded through three other macrocycles. These threaded macrocycles increase the stability of C48.
The cyclocarbon catenane was characterised by mass spectrometry, Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR), UV-visible and Raman spectroscopy. The observation of a single intense 13C NMR resonance for all 48 sp1 carbon atoms provides strong evidence for the cyclocarbon catenane structure.
The principal investigator on the project was Professor Harry Anderson (University of Oxford), who said the ’mass spectrometry capabilities' at the University of Bristol were 'certainly crucial for completion of this study’.