Reinvestigation of the low-lying electronic states of C60−

Electronic absorption spectra of C60− in the near-infrared region are recorded for non-polar methylcyclohexane and polar 2-methyltetrahydrofuran matrices at 77 K. They are compared with the spectra observed for the anion in rare gas matrices. The dissimilarity of the spectral pattern in the polar matrix is attributed to the splitting of the degenerate excited state by the lowering of the symmetry from Ih to D2h.