C60 – The Buckminsterfullerene

Posted by Fabio 2 March 2011

The first fullerene to be discovered, and the family’s namesake, was buckminsterfullerene C60, made in 1985 by Robert Curl, Harold Kroto and Richard Smalley. The name was an homage to Richard Buckminster Fuller, whose geodesic domes it resembles. Fullerenes have since been found to occur (if rarely) in nature.