FULLERENE CAGES BREAKDOWN INDUCED IN SOLUTION BY ULTRAVIOLET-RADIATION - EXPERIMENTAL SUPPORT FOR THE WINDOW FORMATION IN FULLERENES

Experimental results of excimer laser-induced photolysis of fullerene C-60 in solution are presented and are found in good agreement with re cent ab-initio calculations, which confirm the relatively low energy d emand for opening the fullerene carbon cages in their triplet excited states, Different quantum yields of photolysis show that a single phot on of an ArF laser or two photons of KrF/XeCl lasers could be sufficie nt for opening the fullerene cage. The reaction of the opened C-60 Wit h solvent impurities or products of previous decompositions seems more likely than its oxidation by singlet oxygen or than multiphoton decom position.