Chapter 3: Basic Principles of the Chemical Reactivity of Fullerenes

For the implementation of fullerenes in organic molecules it is necessary to develop methods of covalent anchoring for these molecules. In this chapter is described the reactivity of fullerenes, as well as the principal synthetic methods used in the literature for the functionalisation of them, mainly C₆₀ but also C₇₀ and higher fullerenes. Throughout the chapter are collected some of the most recent reaction conditions that lead to the corresponding fullerene derivatives and some of the applications derived for the functionalisation with each method. Also, the regioselectivity of multiaddition to fullerenes when more than one functional group is attached and some of the synthetic strategies to achieve the different regioisomers are described