Several days after the first experimental observation of the 'magic number' soccerball-shaped C60 in a laser-vaporized cluster beam mass spectrum by Kroto and co-workers (Heath et al 1985 J. Am. Chem. Soc. 107, 7779-7780. (doi:10.1021/ja00311a102)) they also found a magic number feature owing to La@C60 in a mass spectrum prepared by laser vaporization of a LaCl3-impregnated graphite rod. With the advent of macroscopic synthesis and the following successful separation and purification of metallofullerenes, both experimental and theoretical studies of metallofullerenes have developed quite rapidly to date so as to elucidate their structural, electronic, magnetic and transport properties. Furthermore, a bottom-up closed network growth mechanism has experimentally been shown to play a crucial role in generating various types of metallofullerenes.This article is part of the themed issue 'Fullerenes: past, present and future, celebrating the 30th anniversary of Buckminster Fullerene'.
Keywords: fullerenes; growth mechanism; metallofullerenes; non-IPR.
© 2016 The Author(s).