THE WORLD INSIDE FULLERENE CAGES - THE PHYSICAL-CHEMISTRY OF ENDOHEDRAL X-AT-C-N COMPOUNDS

A survey of the research and achievements on endohedral fullerene comp ounds is presented. This shows that the endofullerenes represent a ver y active and promising area of the fullerene research field. The endoh edral fullerenes are related to some closed-shell chemically synthesiz ed compounds, the carcerands and to their complexes, the carceplexes. A unified nomenclature is suggested as an extension of the host-guest approach which equally incorporates the endohedral fullerenes and thei r complexes.