Chemical synthesis scheme for a C60 fullerene

A scheme for the chemical synthesis of C60 fullerenes was discussed. The scheme was consisted of tetrahedron-analogue synthesis and intramolecular ring-formation. The tetrahedron-analogue was synthesized by a series of coupling reactions between halogenated benzene and ethyne derivatives. The ethynylized tetrahedron-analogue was converted to C60 by multi-membered intramolecular ring-formation. The scheme was designed to eliminate stable C-H bonds from reactants, except reactive hydrogen in an ethynyl group, and thus synthesized hydrogen-free fullerenes.