Thermal decomposition of C60Br24 and C60Br8: Absence of sequential elimination

In-situ infrared spectroscopic investigations of the thermal decomposition of C60Br24 and C60Br8 reveal that elimination reactions leading to C-60 occur in a single-step process. No partially brominated structures are observed, although theoretical predictions exist about derivatives such as C60Brn (12 < n < 24). The study suggests that the lack of such structures can be attributed to the unusual stability of the cage. Any activation of the spheroidal structure is evenly distributed resulting in the uniform excitation of all the vertices; a property attributed to the resilience, as evidenced by mass spectrometric experiments.