Buckminsterfullerene C60: a chemical Faraday cage for atomic nitrogen

N@C60 (atomic nitrogen in C60, produced by ion implantation) is the first member of a new class of endohedral fullerenes in which a highly reactive atom in its atomic ground state is enclosed in C60. Nitrogen in C60 is chemically inert and stable under ambient conditions. The atomic states of nitrogen in C60 can be slightly tuned by cage distortions caused by exohedral additions to N@C60. In this Letter, a new and simple production method for N@C60 is described and the effect of cage distortions on the atomic states of nitrogen is discussed.