HYDROGENATION OF SOLID C-60 BY ATOMIC-HYDROGEN

We report a mass spectrometric study of the hydrogenation of pure C60 in thin solid films. The reactions were performed in vacuum by exposin g C60 films to atomic hydrogen, which covalently binds to individual f ullerene molecules, resulting in C60Hn (n = 2 to >24), with a wide dis tribution in n for a given exposure. Fragmentation of the fullerene ca ges, which for pure C60 proceeds by losses of multiples of two C atoms , is redistributed for C60Hn to include losses of odd numbers of C ato ms, though the total degree of fragmentation is unchanged.