Recognition of hydrogen isotopomers by an open-cage fullerene

Abstract

We present our study on the recognition of hydrogen isotopes by an open-cage fullerene through determination of binding affinity of isotopes H 2 /HD/D 2 with the open-cage fullerene and comparison of their relative molecular sizes through kinetic-isotope-release experiments. We took advantage of isotope H 2 /D 2 exchange that generated an equilibrium mixture of H 2 /HD/D 2 in a stainless steel autoclave to conduct high-pressure hydrogen insertion into an open-cage fullerene. The equilibrium constants of three isotopes with the open-cage fullerene were determined at various pressures and temperatures. Our results show a higher equilibrium constant for HD into open-cage fullerene than the other two isotopomers, which is consistent with its dipolar nature. D 2 molecule generally binds stronger than H 2 because of its heavier mass; however, the affinity for H 2 becomes larger than D 2 at lower temperature, when size effect becomes dominant. We further investigated the kinetics of H 2 /HD/D 2 release from open-cage fullerene, proving their relative escaping rates. D 2 was found to be the smallest and H 2 the largest molecule. This notion has not only supported the observed inversion of relative binding affinities between H 2 and D 2 , but also demonstrated that comparison of size difference of single molecules through non-convalent kinetic-isotope effect was applicable.