Easily characterized systems of C60 grafted on SiO2

Fullerenes grafted on silica with cleavable anchors give materials that can be easily characterized after thermal/chemical treatment or use as catalysts. Transesterification of an ester linkage leads to detachment of the fullerene moiety from the silica and permits study with standard spectroscopic methods. In particular, UV–vis spectroscopy was proved to be a valuable tool permitting structure analysis and quantitative determination at the same time.