Electron Spin Relaxation of C60 Monoanion in Liquid Solution: Applicability of Kivelson–Orbach Mechanism

We report the results of our investigation on the electron spin relaxation mechanism of the monoanion of C60 fullerene in liquid solution. The solvent chosen was carbon disulfide, which is rather uncommon in EPR spectroscopy but proved very useful here because of its liquid state over a wide temperature range. The conditions for exclusive formation of the monoanion of C60 in CS2 were first determined using electrochemical measurements. Using these results, only the monoanion of C60 was prepared by chemical reduction using Hg2I2/Hg as the reducing agent. The EPR line width was measured over a wide temperature range of 120-290 K. The line widths show weak dependence on temperature, changing by a factor of only about 2, over this temperature range. We show that the observed temperature dependence does not obey the Kivelson-Orbach mechanism of electron spin relaxation in liquids, applicable for radicals with low-lying, thermally accessible excited electronic states. The observed temperature dependence can be empirically fitted to an Arrhenius type of exponential function, from which an activation energy of 74 ± 3 cm(-1) is obtained. From the qualitative similarities in the characteristics of the spin relaxation rates of C60 monoanion radical and the cyclohexane type of cation radicals reported in the literature, we propose that a pseudorotation-induced electron spin relaxation process could be operating in the C60 monoanion radical in liquid solution. The low activation energy of 74 cm(-1) observed here is consistent with the pseudorotation barrier of C60 monoanion, estimated from reported Jahn-Teller energy levels.