ACS Chemical Landmark on Buckyballs

ACS will designate the discovery of buckminsterfullerenes as a National Historic Chemical Landmark on Oct. 11 at Rice University, where the research took place. Robert Curl, Harold Kroto, and Richard Smalley discovered fullerenes, known as buckyballs, at Rice University in 1985. A fullerene is a molecule composed entirely of carbon in the form of a hollow sphere, ellipsoid, or tube. The long name is a tribute to Buckminster Fuller because his geodesic domes provided a clue to the molecule’s structure. The discovery of fullerenes expanded the number of known carbon allotropes, previously limited to graphite, diamond, and soot. The discovery and manufacture of nanotubes resulted directly from research on fullerenes. For more information, visit www.acs.org/landmarks.